PC Epic Games Losing Most Dlc [update: Not Anymore]

Is this the add-on you mean? Cause it seems to be available on Epic?



I don't own it myself but it seems purchasable.

DW

 

No, it's this


https://store.steampowered.com/app/...t_DB_BR_101_on_Kassel__Wrzburg_Gameplay_Pack/

 

Or indeed possible legal action. Once the lawyers are involved, then you keep schtum in the public domain.

 

Someone here posted, they copied their Expert DLC gameplay pak file into their epic version of the game and it worked just fine.

 

As I mentioned before this is a commercial issue and not a technical issue. Details have not yet been worked out. I am sure they will get there. DTG are just being up front about circumstances. As usual the hype leads to user paranoia. They have 24 days to hash things out. Time to be chill

 

Can’t wait to see the Random Events with Thomas on TSW6. Maybe he will have trouble with the quarrelsome rolling stock.

 

Which makes sense as they are both the Windows x64 PC version of the game. It's why when I transitioned to GOG for most of my gaming, it was a straight copy and paste of my saves, config files, and the like from any game I previously had on Steam.

The only difference ofc being GOG is DRM-free and thus has no licensing checks, all the game checks for when run is the presence of the DLC. Presumably Epic/Steam check installed packages against what is owned on your account, hence how when you get a refund for a DLC purchase for a game, even if it is still installed locally on your drive, it won't load up in the game.

 

There are games that allow the DLC to load without a purchase in Steam. I've shared the DLC files for Skyrim and Fallout 4 with a friend who only owned the standard editions and they load fine and are playable. If they redownload the game they need to place the files again.
There probably are some games that enforce that check but I know Bethesda don't seem to care.

 

Well, those games launched originally on disc, and use a file management system dating back all the way to Morrowind, which predates digital storefronts and modern forms of DRM, the changing of which would probably be too much work for Bethesda to justify in making sure it wouldn't wholesale break mod loading.

 

Interesting because back in TSW3 I won a code for the old LIRR and tried transferring it over to epic and it wouldn't load onto layers for NYT, but moving NYT over to steam it did work iirc.

Has it been confirmed anywhere that random events are added to all engines? I feel like it would be something similar to suspension updates where old stock before the game of the feature introduction don't get the new features, same with most TSW2 routes and their TOD3 vs TOD4 on everything else

 

I did an experiment with DLC number 129 in TSW 5 on the Epic Games Store version, it works normally.

TSW 5: Expert DB BR 101 on Kassel - Würzburg Gameplay Pack (Epic Games Store)

 

Cool! In either case, did the Epic installation already contain all 128 previous DLCs?

Interesting to know that a Steam DLC can seemingly work under Epic. I would have expected some kind of verification and protest.

 

I have over 200 pak files installed. The game doesn't care, it loads everything.

 

Random events won't be tied to routes or trains, except those that are train specific.

 

It's the exact same Windows x64 PC version of the game. It's the same files, so it's no surprise they're cross-compatible. As I said before, this is something I am used to from my experience of moving the majority of my library from Steam to GOG. The thing that one might expect to interfere, which I am familiar with encountering on Steam but is not a thing on GOG due to its DRM-free nature, would be if the game does a licensing check against the server before allowing one to load. I know that on Steam I cannot play Cardiff even though it is still sitting there in the install folder on my drive, because I got a refund. Microsoft's store behaves the same, as I recall.

I can imagine a couple of scenarios in which you could bypass such a check on any store which does them when loading another store's version of the game's DLC. One is if the player owns that DLC on both stores. The other is if that DLC is not available on that store, so it doesn't do a licensing check because it just sees it as a player-created mod.

 

Thing is, DTG has always said Steam and Epic have different builds, so I assumed there were checks in there to prevent cross-pollination.

 

Epic & Steam are just store fronts for the same platforms, no reason to change how the games work internally. Would be like assuming the Barbie you buy from Walmart's completely different from the one you buy from Amazon. No sane company's gonna invest into multiple tooling's with the same basic end-goal in mind. No different with a game, if both stores are selling to Windows users you're gonna have both share the same basic Window's build underneath.

You also got bare in mind what makes a new build of a game is kind of arbitrary, difference could be as simple as "Steam build has Steam's DRM, Epic has no DRM" and they call it a day. Or heck, for a really simple difference you'd see things like the single and multi-pack version of a film get labeled as separate product. All because one version of the film came in a horrendous value pack with four other films they couldn't sell on their own.

 

This is pretty much what I was thinking--again, with the idea that each store would want subsequent purchases for the same base game locked to their version. Your Barbie analogy is pretty much how obnoxious I find that whole idea. Or imagine if a physical game bought from Gamestop forced you to buy the DLCs also through Gamestop.

 

Well, IF it is the case that Epic doesn't use DRM, then the problem is essentially solved. Download your DLC on Steam, stick it in your Epic folder and voila!

 

Responding and raising arguments.

At the time of testing, I only had three files (*.pak) in the DLC folder, which are for the services and scenarios to work:

• TS2Prototype-WindowsNoEditor-BR101Expert.pak
• TS2Prototype-WindowsNoEditor-BR101ExpertKasselGameplayPack.pak
• TS2Prototype-WindowsNoEditor-SFSKasselWurzburg.pak

But many have already responded, it doesn't matter if I have all 128 DLCs more the number 129, they will all load normally, there is no restriction limit in the Epic Games Store engine.

Another point raised by many, the DLCs on the 3 PC platforms (Epic Games Store, Steam Store and Xbox Games Store) are all the same, the hashes only change due to compilation, other times I saw only 1 file or a few files different in hashes which in practice is just the order of their compilation, in the end it would be like mathematics, the order of the factors does not change the product.

 

This was what I suggested someone should test when I heard about the 101 thing, grab the steam version of a cheap old DLC in advance that's being delisted on epic, grab the free starter pack on steam come launch day, install the TSW6 version of that DLC for Steam, and copy it over to the Epic TSW6 install folder to see if it loads.

 

Now you have suggested these short cuts then maybe DTG will add functionality to prevent this

 

Not sure why they'd choose to add functionality to prevent additional sales and deny themselves the revenue, but this is DTG we are talking about, after all, so who knows?

 

I've only seen one response, from a person who says he has over 200 PAK files, even though there are only 129 DLCs. Not sure what to make of that. If someone owns or copies 128 DLCs into an Epic installation, then adds a 129th (ideally Expert 101 Kassell, as that's the one causing DTG problems) and either has it crash or is able to play it, that will be valuable info.

 

He means mods. I have over 400 installed. Mods just like DLC are .pak files and live in the same folder

 

The game can run any number of .pak files. The 128 DLC limit is unrelated, as it is the game that runs the .pak files, not the Epic Store.

Also, when you purchase a game/DLC, you are buying a license to use it only through the platform you purchased it on. Copying the game or its DLCs to another platform without a valid license is considered piracy.

 

And where is the connection between pak files which I installed myself and the epic store? The problem is not that the game in epic does not support more than 128 dlc. The problem seems to be in the store, which does not allow you to place more than 128 dlc.

 

Oh, ok. I've never messed with mods.

 

Exactly.

The game can load as many files as you can cram into it.
The problem appears at the moment to be some arbitrary limitation on imaginary "shelf space" in the store.
Epic say there is not one.
DTG's actions suggest otherwise.
The fact the problem only exists on Epic's store suggests the limitation is indeed with that system.

 

Hmmm, that is an odd one. Advice is not to use Epic Games...

 

"Major crashing issue" seemed to imply a problem with the Epic build of the game. Maybe it refers to something else happening on the dev/publisher end that we wouldn't see. Hopefully DTG steps in with more info soon.

 

That's what they said with the 101 pack release ?
Although copying the file over from Steam seems to work?

Something doesn't make sense.

 

I mean, I've found in general that any store that requires their launcher to be running in the background impacts performance and occasionally stability of games launched through it. The DRM-free standalone install GOG versions of my games run measurably better than their Steam counterparts, but can deliberately be made to run worse if I enable Steam in the background and turn its overlay on while running them.

 

What if piracy isn't a crime in my country? Or T&Cs against piracy are unenforceable in my country? I am not for piracy and I won't do piracy but, we legally don't own the games we buy, so why buy them?

 

I wish I knew that when I upgraded to TSW3 but alot of people used EGS because TSW2 was free over there for a while. I snatched the opportunity and naturally upgraded to TSW3, (skipped TSW4 because I was playing on a i3/uhd graphics with 8gb of ram), upgraded to an actual PC and bought TSW5... TSW is my favorite game, even. Having to rebuying all of this because of a technical bs is extremely annoying. at least I will start fresh and only buy what I actually play

 

They've updated the FAQ today to say 17 of the 60 DLCs will now be available sometime after TSW6's launch.

DW

 

Credit where it's due (Both Epic & DTG) & you for catching that.
For me, 8 DLCs from my collection are affected: DB BR 101 Expert, original DB BR 101 , Maintalbahn, Rapid Transit, Niddertalbahn, Harlem Line, BerninaLinie & Salzburg-Rosenheim.
I can live without them, albeit with no IC services (for now).

 

Would probably be a better plan to, y'know, not make us port everything to a same-game-new-number version every year.

 

That WOULD also help with the PS5 download issues too.

 

Where's the connection? The BR101 Expert scenario pack for Kassel Würzburg is no longer available on the Epic platform. Coincidence? I don't think so.

 

For those who don't have the FAQ on hand:
At least further content isn't being removed, but this isn't a win in any category other than ever so slight better communication of "hey, these are coming, but they wont be on launch"

 

I guess they are willing to have low priority on Epic for some reason, and decided to not bother to set up them all at launch.

 

Since this appears to be a legal and not technical limitation, I wonder if this is an interesting clue as to what is going on. Maybe Epic need a release for every add on or something and someone is playing hardball?

 

Goodness me, now not only Epic doesn't get the full list, now even that curated list gets stuff cut at launch. This is literally beating a dead horse. What next? TSW 7 Epic Games gets no DLC transferred at all? This is outrageous! But also, not surprising at this point. I've said what I wanted to say, and well, there's not much else to do at this point on my behalf, honestly, after all I've tried to do.

 

It's frightening that there still is no official DTG answer that says that they're working on it and will provide some solution.
only the 'if at all'...

DTG Matt DTG-Chris sorry for the ping

 

I don't think you'll hear anything until/if there is a solution because of how reliant DTG are on Epic. The former is never gonna slag the latter off (might literally not be able to cause of UE licence, I've no clue but if I were an evil corporate lawyer I'd totally be putting non disparagement clauses in it). The thing is sooooooo murky. That's why I am genuine in my suggestion to go out with DTG lads, get them smashed, and find out what has actually gone on.

I would encourage continuing to make noise about it in the meantime though. Then DTG can point at the noise to Epic and say "cut your shenangians fellows! look at how the peons grumble!".

I am 99% sure it's not a technical problem though (and I won't change my mind even if they come out afterwards and claim it was, unless they at least describe the nature of said problem; they've never said themselves it is a technical issue anyway, someone here just assumed it and it grew legs).

 

I don't care who slags of who (learned a new word there). The message from DTG should be "we're working on a solution'
That message is not there at this moment. (if at all).

Without this message (already missing the 101), epic stops for me.

 

And if that is finding a solution against a 3rd party Epic who doesn't want to change, other options should be made available.

 

It's going to be interesting if the content that isn't moving on epic games if that content will be left behind in bug fixing, Remasters (ifvit happens) and new dlc (loco and Gameplay packs) hopefully it won't

 

Yep, that is the way to do it. New DLC pack every year that is a better deal than buying separate DLCs, and put the main game on sale to bring it up on the charts.

While that's the right way to do it, chances Dovetail will change strategies now are slim to none.

As I said in a previous post, if I can't collect DLC for this game with the assumption it will continue to work on future versions, my purchases will be severely limited. Seeing that the licenses for some thing expired is concerning. The EGS situation - I hate the EGS and don't feel very sorry for users of it, but that is concerning as well.