Exterior view is more satisfying as a console gamer than cab view, especially in gangway-ended rolling stock!
Respectfully, I think this criticism is much less valid today than it was at release. The BR 101 Expert has layers on: 1. Dresden-Riesa 2. Salzburg-Rosenheim 3. Bremen-Oldenburg 4. Frankfurt-Fulda (it's a bit wonky and we are working on fixing it, but you can still play 80% of the services in the current revision) 5. Mannheim-Kaiserslautern 6. Kassel-Würzburg (yes you have to pay for it, but you do get 40 services rather than 5 or whatever it was on the old one). This leaves: Frankfurt S-bahn, Hauptstrecke Rheih-Ruhr and Hamburg-Lübeck. FSN is definitely getting a timetable with the BR 101 Expert in the future, but it will take some time. HBK is only 2 services, not exactly a huge loss and far down on my priority list. HRR is more tricky: On the upside it has about 20 IC services and was my favourite route back in TSW2 (because of the BR 101) but it is also really dated, both in terms of scenery and lighting (old "TOD3") and the timetable (freight is mostly, iirc, fictional, I don't remember if the timings for the IC services are autogenerated or prototypical but I'd imagine the former) so I'm hesitant to spend the (relatively significant) time to make an Expert timetable for it. Perhaps in the future DTG or a third party will remaster it or extend it In conclusion you probably already have an equal amount of playable services (if not more) and gameplay hours on the BR 101 Expert compared to the original BR 101, because of the Kassel-Würzburg gameplay pack. When FSN gets an Expert timetable that will only increase the disparity in the BR 101 Expert's favour and at that point I think this narrative is invalid
Steam is fine the way it is. We just need more steam engines and steam routes. I don't mind the physics.
Exactly. Give me Bullied Pacifics to Brighton. Give me A4s at Stoke bank! I'll even take a heritage railway with a Austerity tank
My hot take: Train simulators are extremely complicated. Far more complicated than the other similar sims (farm, truck, etc) and it's unfair to compare the work of say SCS with DTG. It's apples and oranges. Train simulators have to simulate the vehicle itself (which is actually multiple vehicles all interacting with each other), and the system on which that vehicle operates (signals, traffic, timetable). It's complex. And if... god forbid.. any of that is even half an inch off from reality....... I'm consistently impressed with what's achieved in TSW and I can't wait for 6.
TSC has plenty issues too i like both Train game but i play TSW more i probably run Train Sim Classic about 5 times a year now if i am in the mood for something different RW Enhancer is a must on that as several other packages that improve weather and such without that no way
Thorgred I know what you mean. TSC needs that extra boost. And my "hot take" is based on my modded version of TSW. (all of my games are heavily modded. I think it's part of the fun). I wish I liked TSC more because of all the route miles, but I'm just so spoiled by timetable mode. The "driver handoff" approach works really well and I'm usually rolling within minutes of starting the game.
yeah im running TSW 5 with a huge amount of mods too with a current total of 295 mods all placed in the UserContent folder now
My hot take: DLC prices are generally too expensive, basically I'm not a fan of the fact that if you want other routes you have to pay each time. Especially for old routes (<TSW2) which I think should have a permanent discount, after some will tell me the reductions but it is true with the old routes but the more recent ones sometimes the reduction is too low, after personally I am patient but I can understand for others that it can be frustrating to wait.
I don't think so, because the more DLCs you build, the worse the quality. As far as I'm concerned, you're welcome to build a few less DLCs, but build them in such a way that you have quality instead of quantity.
They have also saturated their own market with identikit routes - apart from the TSG ones, the German routes are just a blur of DB Red running through pretty much the same type of scenery. US is crippled by the fact DTG cannot build the really long freight routes (and have access issues for research) so we get a collection of low speed commuter stuff. UK - well again apart from JT we seem to get the same old stuff, short electric commuter routes. Cardiff could have broken the mould but instead we got a tiny route barely worthy of its "Network" title and outsourced to the worst third party route builder.
I'm not saying the opposite, but at least making discounts on old routes would make the game more affordable for some people including new players and help with the most recent routes layers. + Prioritize quality over quantity as they say Vern and Emma because it's cool we have lots of DLC but how many are buggy when they come out? Little hello to WCML and its flying forests who take performance
Really hot take: there is nothing wrong with US Freight in general but nobody likes it in TSW because of the way DTG executed it. ex: Cajon Pass and Sherman Hill. Putting your engine in either notch 5 or 8 for an hour straight and occasionally tapping the alerter (if selected) is not engaging in the slightest. I think thats the reason US Passenger has been more popular these last few years. Although the freight layers on Boston Worcester aren't actually that bad though with all the yard movements and main line runs..
Probably helps those were made using someone who had very good knowledge of CSX trains in the area, which helped make them feel more authentic than those from DTG from Sherman Hill to San Bernardino Line. Not to mention no limits on the rolling stock either.
there is too much focus on not driving the train when making a TSW route dlc. do we really need working lifts, walking trails, ticket offices, toilets and random garden sheds in a game that is supposed to be about driving trains? at least to me, and especially when they aren't even standard across all routes - just drop the gimmicks and focus on the Railway, the platforms and the rolling stock. (GSMR for what little it does isn't even a standard thing across trains yet) anyway, that's my hot take
Is that even a hot take? I mean I agree. Most of this stuff is so much time spent developing for something that I look at for 2 seconds and then I actually drive the train. Especially the whole working lifts, I've never understood why this a thing. I've literally used them one whole time ever, its actually more inconvenient than just running across the literal tracks to get to another platform.
The general idea from I've gathered is that it's supposed to mean a fresh "hot" opinion that you haven't really put much thought into. General rule of thumb is if you've had time to actually think about it that's probably not a very hot take. That being said if we're disqualify posts based on that I don't think many of the posts here belong in the first place, lot of these opinions clearly have had more than five minutes of thought put into them. On the actually takes themselves though I'd tend to agree, being able to walk around the engines is great, but that's really all I use the walking function for. This isn't GTA, there really isn't anything worthwhile in the world to see or explore on foot, and yes, I'm counting collectibles in that.
Come on Fred. Tell the truth. Your fluff obsession really dates dates back to your primary school hair style.
And there was me thinking that was a picture of you in your younger days Fred, was going to say you must have had ladies literally throwing themselves at you.....
My last hot take for now… Impress me on Tuesday with the route and additional loco DLC’s and my Steam Wallet is locked, c@cked and ready to rock!
No "type" of route, be it old, modern, high-speed, "bus stop" is bad. Some styles just appeal more to certain users more than others
I can agree with the likes of toilets and sheds, but ticket offices are fine given they're actually part of the railway. Whereas toilets can be found literally anywhere.
I agree, but my feeling was is that we had a glut of the same sort of route in a very short space of time. Be nice to have a bit more variety.
My hot take: Steam trains aren't all that interesting as people make it out to be so I'm glad DTG aren't making anymore steam DLC.
All the fluff is there to cater for other TSW users who like to treasure hunt or be conductors. Due to the nature of the beast none of this will be going away - or is it! Expect the Unexpected
I'll go one better. More people are interested in Thomas the Tank Engine than the complexities of actual steam engines.
I'll take it even further, more people are more interested in the sleepers and ballast graphics than whatever is running on the rails above it......
My hot take is that whilst the market is so dominated by DTG, they’ll continue to get away with lapses in quality and using poor third parties to help develop routes. It says something when “British Railways” and SCR on Roblox have passenger announcements and this isn’t fully implemented on TSW6!
Recently I came up with a formula for an interesting route: it should have branches! It's boring to just drive back and forth with the same landscapes. Today you drive along the main line the entire length, tomorrow you drive to that branch where there will be something new. But that branch is actually a single-track line. Or the option like on the Frankfurt S-Bahn route will work, when you have several options for how to get from one end of the route to the other. I hope there will be more such variable routes, and not just a straight line.
Well that was the theory behind Cardiff but it fell down because instead of doing all, or at least a substantial part, of the Valley Lines network we got a sawn off runt of a route which doesn’t even allow you to get the trains up to top speed.
I noticed that DTG used to get routes with branches, but lately, except Frankfurt S Bahn we always get a "direct" line. Yesterday I passed Zwolle Groningen - it's just boring. What happened, where did the "technologies of early civilizations" go?
Indeed. That first Dutch route was very welcome but did not stand up to repeat play. When you are building a route through relatively flat landscape then you need to consider how you are going to offer the entertainment value. Didn’t help either that the ICm unit turned out to be more than a little boring to drive. Very little power needed to accelerate and hold top speed, with barely any gradients to challenge the traction and very little sound from the motors. IMHO they should have gone for some of the older Dutch stock with a bit more character and a route around Rotterdam or Amsterdam that would have offered something of a network.
My hot take is that a route DLC doesn't need a new locomotive included with it. I'm very picky about the locomotives I like to drive, and the few ones I do like, I spend a lot of time getting familiar with and really learning the intricacies of. Routes are the playground (so to say) where I can use "my" locomotives. Basically, whether I will enjoy a route depends heavily on if it has services featuring the locomotives I like to drive, not whether it contains some new locomotive. When I used to play MSFS it was the same story: I spent all my time in one or two highly realistic airplanes, and the purchase decision on a new airport addon was based on whether flights to and from that airport made sense with regard to those airplanes (and the airports I already owned). Admittedly it might not be the "hottest" take since I know plenty of other players think the same way, but with how Mannheim-Kaiserslautern was bashed for not adding any new rolling stock it still seems to be quite a controversial opinion.
Mannheim Kaiserslautern is actually a pretty good route. The fact that no new loco comes with it doesn't diminish that at all.
I would give this line a second chance if there was a non-electrified line from Haren that would become single track (my little weakness is single track diesel routes). However, it is what it is...
My hot take. Network South East is a glaring gap in the available TSW content. We have steam, BR Green/Maroon, BR Blue, Provincial, Inter-city and several privatisation era TOCs, TfL, TfW and Scotrail DLCs, London Underground red, silver and modern liveries, but not one of the most common and popular brands we've seen on the British rail network. Plus, most electric units from the NSE days were far more interesting and challenging to drive and had loads more character than any modern EMU.
Agreed. I’d love the Medway Valley Line, Strood to Redhill (great for route hoping between SEHS and London to Brighton) or perhaps Charing Cross to Dover, but that might be a bit of a stretch.
this is how I read it - it was stupid early in the morning and I was kinda typing it as it popped into the old noggin.I'd be lying if I said I had never spent any time actually thinking about it but not really for the purposes of a forum post and more just an internal ranting monologue.
Rapid Transit actually does not totally suck. In fact, when we only had TSW2 pre RH (which is when I joined), RT was my second favourite route after SKA. The scenery was far better than MSB and HMA in my opinion and I found Hamburg Lübeck kinda boring. I only really played German content at that time since I am a German player (though I play more international content now). After RH I really noticed how RT fell of for me. After the community timetable released I began playing the route again and it really holds up after such a long time with a half decent timetable. If DTG extended it to Leipzig HBF proper and added a default RH timetable with IC and ICE trains doing an additional stop in Bitterfeld if they would normally head on to Berlin RT would become an instand high A to low S tier route for me. Now it sits at like mid B to high C tier.
