It's not really about being a direct competitor. But games like this show what would be possible technically, which makes one question what the LOVE is DTG doing then. This game looks better than TSW, while running miles better than TSW and only requiring a fraction of hard drive space. Now sure, Running Train is not a complete game yet. It has many things missing. But to put it in perspective, it requires less storage space than TSW's smallest route, Isle of Wight. All this while the Isle of Wight pak file is just the DLC content. And Isle of Wight contains a single train model. Running Train includes 3 trains and 40kms of track, yet the complete software only requires 2.5 GB of storage. So while it can't replace everything TSW does, and there is nothing wrong with that, it really makes you question whether DTG's efforts are worth paying for or not. Because you see what things could be. Then you see what they currently are.
You will only understand that when stepping deeply into development of a game like TSW is. It's useless to try to describe the technical and fundamental differences between those two games since people have their manifested opinions about TSW and DTG and anything new that looks fancier is automatically the new "TSW-Killer" simulator. Running Train and TSW can't be more different in what they want to achieve and how they technically work. You get the idea when you have done a few runs up and down. I can see that in the videos already. Take a closer look. Also seems you will be bound to the cab all the time in that game. Lot's of details can be left out when doing that. The train has to look good only from a defined set of camera angles. In TSW on the other hand you are able to inspect every nit closely what needs way more details on the 3d models and the textures what consumes a lot of space on disk. And not only on the trains but also the stations and the whole route near the tracks. All that is not happening in Running Train. There you, funnily, run a train, that's it. Maybe some stressful, typical Japan style point chase too.
Especially YOU will come up fast with things that you don't like on that game. I mean your expectations on a train sim are quite high. And IIRC it's not only graphics you have high needs, what Running Train might "fix" for you, somehow. We do, and it's cheap compared with how many men hours are in those products (quality aside, also bad quality content needs lots of time to spend into and time costs money).
Yes, you remember correctly. Releasing a €36 DLC without active suspension (only to then include it in a patch) is scandalous to me. Maybe we should try to ride a real train every now and then to understand this situation. Now, no one should justify this situation. Trains without oscillating movements are like basic sleds on snow. What's more, the aggravating factor is that they should have been a feature from TSW4 onwards.
Why? William, who made that loco technically, explained it more than once why he decided to put it aside as long as it makes problems. I don't see any big issue with that. Not at all. And movement was there all the time. Same type of movement that Running Train will have (only). Suspension was then added as a extension to that behaviour. Technically, from SimuGraph seen, it is nearly the same component where it happens. Such things need time to grow since suspension physics is heavy compute wise. And it is still way to basic but that's for performance reasons. For some trains it works good, for others not. Not sure what TSG can do about it. I'm afreaid it's nothing than use what is there and not uses it when it doesn't fit.
Sure, keep telling yourself that. TSW is simply very unoptimized and handles storage space very badly. That's a known fact that not even the studio will try to deny. Through the years they have mentioned many things that they know are broken, unoptimzied and done badly. But hardly anything ever gets fixed or improved. I mean ffs, it took them 9 years and 6 iterations to realize that maybe you should unload trains from the memory once they're off screen. That tells you everything you need to know about the state of this software... I love TSW, it has it's positives, it's probably my most played game. But as a software it's in a state that is very hard to defend. I see you are trying though, so good luck with that!
@stijn.claessens System requirements: Minimum requirements: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system Operating system: Windows 10, 11 (64-bit) Processor: Intel Core i7-7700HQ or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X RAM: 8 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050M (4 GB VRAM) DirectX: Version 12 Storage: 4 GB available storage space Recommended: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system Operating system: Windows 10, 11 (64-bit) Processor: Intel Core i5-12400F or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X RAM: 16 GB RAM Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 (8 GB VRAM or better) DirectX: Version 12 Storage: 4 GB available storage space
Not fussed about this really, if it helps out performance I'm all for it. Personally I just want to drive a train from the cab, as realistically as possible. Some folks would have issues with this though, which is fair enough. I'm just excited for a new train sim arriving, can't wait to try it out.
First, right, visually TSW is not there. I tried to analyse the behaviour (with my own knowledge of how these things can be done). I might be wrong, i don't have the game yet to get a first hand analysis of that, but to me (and just to me) it looks like a repeating pattern of precomputed animation stuff, including visual rail/track deformation. Yes, it looks good, i like it, but it is not real physics. In TSW we have two systems: The old one that is like what Running Train does (without rail deformation and axle z-movement). It was there since the very first TSW (CSX Heavy Haul). The amount of that movement depends on a parameter set in the track properties (unevenness). That parameter is often set to a low value these days because most modern railroads have welded and perfectly laid tracks like in Germany. The new system, called suspension, does real physics calculation depended on forces and track properties. Such a system needs quite a lot of compute power and so it is massively restricted to how exact it can work. As i said already, the actual outcome from it is not that quite satisfying all over. The infrastructure system only knows about rail gaps (two sizes) with a hard coded dip pattern, what causes that unrealistic dip into the gaps we see all over in TSW. I personally tried to overcome this problem with different settings to the suspension parameters. At some trains like the 218, 140 or the ICE-T it worked well, on others not like the 483 cab car, 430 etc.. This is mainly because of the masses of the trains (yes, the mass, namely body, boogie and axles masses get into account with suspension calculation). The problem i see is the limitation of computing exact values because of performance reasons. When getting to usable suspension values the calculation gets out of range and does weird things like the drifting bogies in SE-curves when standing still. I have no idea if that can be improved yet. That's a task for core engine programmers. PS: What TSW and also Running Train is missing is the sinus run of the axles and the resulting sideways movement of a train. I miss that a lot. It was a thing in TSC, but there the other movement was missing completely.
The video at minute 41 (with rain) is impressive. https://www.youtube.com/live/WKEf7FUGNpE?is=UkPLG0S4QZNOjzkw
It won't. I'm running it on an old 1660Ti. It runs better than TSW. Smoother frame rate and no stutter at all. Glad to say you are wrong about that - which I hope is something you are happy to hear as well! Though you are right regarding that from videos it looks worse than TSW. That's because the camera is more fixed to the train, so you don't see that much movement at first. This I hope they improve later on. But I can assure you that there is real suspension physics going on. Outside views, like that video I shared, show really nicely how the train is moving all over the place over bumps. It will also "dip" on junctions similarly to TSW. And when stopping hard, you can see the whole cab dipping then sprining back up as the suspension settles. On these screenshots you can see how the train doesn't "line up" even in straight sections, because the cars keep jumping all over the place at 80 km/h. It's seen well at the roof and bottom lines, also on the side stripes where there is one. From my experience there is sideways movement as well, though could be a bit more, I agree. But once again, this sideways movement is not noticeable enough, because it does not transfer to movement between the cab interior and the camera. But if you look straight while driving and look at the rails, you can see them move relative to you side to side as well somewhat. So if I had to compare, I'd say the suspension physics is similar to TSW - as of bounciness, and it's improved further by actually well animated bogey movement. And here the tracks are actually uneven, unlike most TSW routes, so it's noticeable. If the camera sway was the same as in TSW, all this movement would be really really noticeable from the cab view.
In principle not really ,DTG themselves have I'm sure enough capable people within their organisation to reproduce a new trainsim incarnation in unreal 5 ,so don't see the point of buying out a small one man company,I see were your coming from ,but I don't think they need any speed run or practice despite the mistakes ,bugs etc they've made and continue to make in the current game
Zuiki and two-handle DDG controller support has been implemented in the game for tomorrow's release! Dude is working fast.
In my opinion, if the product is sufficiently successful, or even very successful (as it seems) and generates a satisfactory amount of revenue, the development team could expand beyond a single developer to speed up working. Let's hope so.
A corollary to the previous post: of course, I always hope that profit and haste don't push quality and passion into second or third place. I've had enough of low-quality products.
Well it could be a possibility, though it could be a bit difficult to integrate new developers into a project so long into development. You can easily run into the problem where you - as the lead dev - would spend more time explaining the new dev what to do instead of just doing it yourself. However I could see multiple people splitting the workload with like the current developer doing the main work on the software, and the additional help working on new 3D models and maybe route detailing.
Just bought the game Well, its utterly stunning to look at. the UI is one of the most illogical I've seen in a game. Not that its complicated, but the things you use the least (wipers, headlights, horn) are the buttons most prominent and easiest to access/use. Throttle and brake not at all. And the camera is just wild with too many button clicks to be able to use easily. On load up it gives a disclaimer and reminds players that the route etc is fictional, which is why I love TSW- their recreation of real world places. I can walk around my home train station. But thats my personal taste and know how users on here utterly kick off if DTG releases a train with a wrong bolt somewhere, or slightly wrong shade of livery. Im not sure how this game will appeal to those types of players. While the graphics are realistic, the game isnt. I cant see it being much competition to TSW as it seems kinda pointless once you start playing, other than the stunning visuals. Usual caveats apply here. yes its early access, with no passengers, no ability to walk around platforms nor the train etc. Some of the sound are off too with audio phasing being an almost constant which im sure would be fixed later. Overall, I give the game 6/10. Did i mention the visuals are stunning...?
It depends on your taste. For me, high-end graphics (in 2026) are essential, I'd even say mandatory. TSW has become too dated. I've been destroying my PC with Forza Horizon 6 lately.
I’m assuming the power controls are similar to BVE then, i.e. Q, A and Z? IIRC the Enter key acknowledges ATS and the brakes are , and .
DTG need to wake up, because if this ONE guy decides to do british content things are going to change....
By his own article, he's not finishing the current route / game until Q4 2027 and apart from the beautiful graphics, it's missing a lot that TSW already has. It's also largely fictional. I can't see it being any sort of a threat to DTG in the short term. I'm happy to support a new train game and wish the developer success, competition is a good thing, but there is no short term threat to DTG here that I'm seeing. It's good value for what it costs but it certainly won't be enough to take me away from TSW or even TSC. One short fictional route isn't going to keep me playing until 2027. It's probably a couple of weeks gameplay at most
If he does a British route thats just as fictional as this Japanese route, that doesn't exist in real life, and also doesnt include any features of the station, Its not going to do well. Im betting its one dev that uses Procedural Generation, because he cant build a real life route. PG is basically AI route building. https://dev.epicgames.com/documenta...eration-framework-in-unreal-engine?lang=en-US
Personally, I am blown away by this. Graphics and driving are exceptional. And, absolutely no stutters. Non. Zero. I drove into the terminus station where there were lots of assets parked, huge amount of overhead wires and it did not notice. Zero stutters or slowdowns.
The stills, as good as they are looking, don't really represent the game. Look how it is running, no stutter, no popups no matter how far ahead you're looking and all of this on mediocre PCs. This game puts a certain developer to shame.
You should also look further deep into how the game is made and you get the clear idea why and that it is incomparable to something like TSW (other then both are using trains) and why there is no big future for the game because of that. I could explain what i mean but we all know that no one wants to hear that. So get your own ideas.
I wanna hear, really. Please do. Yes, we all blame the DTG for the fact that the TSW have massive problems with stutters, FPS drops, and generally works clumsy. And here we see, obviously not a simulator at TSW level, but a game about trains, a small route, but this route looks great and runs incredibly smoothly even on old PCs.
It's great but it's not putting anyone to shame in my opinion. 1) It's fictional. There are no inaccuracies in the scenery because it's made up. 2) It's dead - No passengers in the station is an immersion killer in my opinion. This may come later according to the roadmap. 3) Limited gameplay and very little to be added until the roadmap is completed in Q4 2027. Don't get me wrong, it's brilliant for a single developer. I am enjoying it a lot. But people are looking at this with very rose tinted glasses. TSW has more variety of routes, it's largely very good at representing real lines, TSW will receive more routes than this ever will. In TSW we can leave the train and walk around real areas. This is no TSW killer and no competition to DTG. It's just a very good standalone game.
The honeymoon just ended for me when it power spiked/thermal shutdown my PC. Yes, it's hot here but I've now got TSW running sat waiting to depart Cardiff Central and no drama from the rig other than the fans doing their job.
Personally I am not bothered about it being fictional, that it is in Japan sort of hides it for me as I know very little about the area. If it was a fictional route in the UK between Manchester and London but had calling points at Newcastle, Penzance and Glasgow (in that order) it'd be a different conversation. Heck, on BVE my most played route was the fictional "Network WestMidlands" route which as it didn't take liberties with existing well known town names meant it didn't actually kill immersion. I agree with someone further upthread where they said that this will probably stay in Japan, however we don't know what the modding potential is, if they would welcome a third party developer to come in and start making UK, US, DE routes on a set up which isn't built on a foundation of spaghetti code, that will be when the real threat to TSW comes...
It looks very good, even if it's not a route I'd prefer. Should point out that it's only 40km too, and a solo dev can be very good for some things, very bad for others. I respect the time and talent that went into making it, just saying that the guy is working "without a net" so to speak. Guy gets sick or bored or doesn't go FAST enough for people...oh well. It's one guy and he can do what he wants. And before people start screaming about a "competitor to TSW!" No, it's one small route by one guy. It looks like a passion project, not a major studio move. It's like saying a guy rebuilding a car in his garage is going to "compete" with the huge automakers. I look forward to seeing more of his work.
That seems like an issue with your PC. No software under a modern OS has the accesses required to stress your PC that much. The GPU and CPU would throttle way before that. If it shuts down, then something is fucked in your system.
Yeah, CPU, GPU, VRM, even SSD can throttle. But PSU can't. Maybe something goes wrong with it? Try to get rid of a dust inside first.
Well I guess, but yeah, then it's either dusty and therefore overheats, or simply not powerful enough for the rest of PC. Either way, you can't really blame a software for causing a shutdown like that nowdays. If it happens, you have some other underlying clause.
For those of you outside of the UK, we are having a heatwave right now with temps in excess of 31c (don't forget we have the humidity issue to make that worse). It's so hot in my man-cave that I'm down to just my underwear (apologies for that mental image) with the fans working overtime. Even my rig is working harder to cool itself and I'm not running anything yet. Goes without saying but I won't be playing MSFS while it's this hot...
I'll give the case a good dust out tomorrow. Maybe time for some fresh thermal paste on the CPU, too.
If the thermal paste isn't some dubious noname, it should easily lasts for 5 years. Good pastes, in good conditions, last even longer. There's no point in changing it without a reason. If you notice that your CPU is starting overheating, there may be a number of possible causes: 1. The paste was initially poorly applied, or the cooler was not mounted properly. 2. Dust. 3. Summer arrived. The poorly ventilated case began to accumulate not just warm, but very hot air. 4. If none of this fits, then cooling system is initially too weak for the given CPU. In any case, if you decide to remove the cooling system from the CPU or GPU(for example, for more convenient cleaning from dust), the thermal paste must be replaced, as its will be damaged during the process of dismantling the cooler.
