That's exactly what I'm saying. Without Focus, TSC had a clear pathway that DTG were taking to fix up the simulator. Once Focus arrived, DTG silently stopped TSC's core developmental updates
Come on people, don’t tell me your workplace is any different: I think there are many at Dovetail that love TSC more than we give them credit for. For them it was years of their lives working on a product. But, as with any workplace, you do what you are assigned to do, or you leave (or will be relieved) of your position.
You guys all act like this is taking place in some galaxcy far far away. Has anyone contacted the mother ship and asked them what is the plan?
I think focus thought TSW was going to be better than what it actually is. Looking at player numbers in steam TSC is still pretty much close to TSW 6 which says a lot really. TSW 6 does have double digit more users but that is pretty poor giving it is meant to be the bee all and end all of train simulation. I really wish we could see console numbers for TSW we get told console is a large player base but is it really or do we just get told that because we can see the numbers like we can on steam. For me TSC is still the better sim and will be for a very long time. Quite a few people have jumped back to TSC from TSW
Thank you for the information. I guess we will just have to continue to endlessly speculate about the future of TSC.
NDAs don't stop any of us asking DTG what their general plan for TSC is. If there are any routes in the early stages of development or routes where negotiations are ongoing then DTG aren't going to comment. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with asking whether they've got further plans to improve it or make more DLC for it or whether that DLC will only be made by external developers. Is TSC dead? Not really, it is becoming a more niche product though. I still go back to it from time to time because there are so many routes and older traction that's not likely to come over to TSW. It's the most stable it's ever been too, so I don't think it really needs much more core development. I am surprised that DTG aren't working with a third party to have a big ticket UK release once a year, a lot of people have invested thousands of pounds on their TSC collection and without external developers who are keeping it alive, DTG do give the impression (possibly not deliberately) that they've given up on it. The TS 2025 release included a route that's over 5 years old, it didn't give off a particularly good impression to us TSC veterans.
It's difficult because if you read back, the community couldn't be pleased. Up until the halt of regular content releases, most forum posts have been negative. People expect top notch products at bargain prices, Steam in particular is competitive. The UK has fairly standard geography and virtually everything has been covered. I can only speculate the absolute lack of modern trains on Steam, but they are usually available as independent products. Steam and DTG also take their share from sales on the platform. So I simply don't see it as good business to produce for the sim. What can drive this if hobbyist people have a way to make some revenue. TSC as a passion project can work. Similar to enjoying photography, starting a website and allowing people to order prints. In itself it's a loss, but reduces the cost of your hobby. Also, TSC has its technical limits, and it's definitely in the milking cow phase. Its UI isn't future proof. The community could possibly repro it, but there are easier paths for everyone (TSW, Trainz, smaller regional games). Apparently I'm in acceptance phase while many bargain, anger or even deny
I don't think that only applies to Train Sim Classic. If you see the TSW forums there are many members of the community who aren't happy. However, the releases are clearly making money and you never hear from the silent majority who are happy. I wouldn't take the noisy complainants as representative of the whole community. Nor do I think it's only applicable to train simulation games. Some releases get an absolute roasting. Three games I used to play regularly, MS Flight Simulator, Football Manager and Sim Cities are currently on versions that have been eviscerated by regular players. In all three cases I bought the latest versions, tried them for a short while and gave up. As for non-steam releases, there are a number of independent developers who are still making content and probably will for a while yet. There were still a sizeable number of people using Microsoft Train Simulator 10 years after it released. If anything TSC seems to have aged better, it will be celebrating its 20th anniversary next year. It's quite remarkable that it's still fairly popular.
I would trust the opinions of most of the seasoned players. Most are familiar the past quality of products. So many of the newer/younger players when they don't understand or will not read the instructions tend to bash the product. Most have never had to read and fold a road map.
Remember the younger players who cried the 101 was broke when we first got that because they didn’t have a clue how to operate a train with gears. To used to one handle forward and backward trains, the forums had people claiming the 101 was broken lol
