Train Simulator 2021 Announced!

Wow, I'm actually happily surprised by this! Finally we get Birmingham in an official route, and the news of the Avanti license is great. Good to see the Voyager and Pendelino back.

Edit: I'm actually way more excited about this than I ever got for TSW2, well done DTG!

 

Wow, that was a surprise!

The new WCML South route sounds fantastic. I already have Norddeutsche Bahn and it's one of the best German routes around - very different to the usual German routes. The new workshop integration sounds cool.

Are there any other technical upgrades/fixes to the core engine? Any other visual features?

Good luck with the launch. I have a feeling you will get a lot of the "Is that it? What have you fixed?!" posts. But to me, any advancement of and continued investment in this platform can only be a good thing.

 

Any core game updates or is it just another name change with a few DLC? I’ll be massively disappointing if there’s still no fixes for the game breaking bugs, the out of memory errors etc.

New workshop functionality will be interesting never-the-less.

I assume the 390 is the same one as the Virgin one as the one that was took down at the end of last year?

And I feel WCML South is a bit unnecessary considering there is already the fantastic version out there by Alex55.

 

This was a nice surprise and an excellent choice for the new route. Looking forward to reading more about it.

 

Do I have to pay for TS2021 if I have TS2020?

 

No you will not have to pay for TS2021 as you already own TS2020 it will update to the new version. The only thing you will have to pay for is the new route coming at launch.

 

It should be the same as before, the CORE is free but if you want the routes and content you need to pay.

 

Fife Circle was on my list anyhow, so with WCML South this is a bit of a bargain!

 

Is there going to be "major upgrades" to the TS saga? Or is it just going to be "New TS"202X" with only the routes and some minor fixes? I care more about the major upgrades rather than new routes and such... It would be really surprising if DTG went for a multiplayer for example in this game, if not, I guess we will be sticking with OR until the time comes... ^__^'

 

A new route always adds some interest so for me that is good news. I doubt there is much more they could do to TS1 without major changes breaking what has gone before. The menus annoy me the most, they are very clunky and when scrolling down the routes in the drive menu it is easy to miss the one you are looking for.

If TSW doesn't have multiplayer I think it would be unlikely that TS1 will. Not sure what OR is or who this "we" are?

 

It's good to have Birmingham featuring in a DTG route. It's a major UK city that's been missing for too long. Presumably we get Coventry as well.

 

I'm honestly surprised about this announcement, and even more surprised of the timing of it, considering the release date is so close. That London to Birmingham is something I'm quite sold on. What is also another sell for me, as this would be the first time that I don't possess any of the DLC that is being released with the yearly update package.. so this is an automatic buy for me. Wow.

 

Well they could bring the north wales coastal back, and nothing excludes the possibility of having Hitachi trains. And taking into account that Avanti West Coast belongs to First Group and Trenitalia, they could bring in a future dlc, venice to milan.

 

How much closer? It’s only 10 days away!

 

Yes, I feel exactly the same, also completely thrown off-guard by this surprise announcement. And I find myself in the same position with the new routes; unusually I don't have any this time around (normally seem to have at least 2 of the usual 3). So this all comes as a very pleasant surprise indeed - especially if they've nailed the advertised Workshop makeover. Finger's crossed. But regardless, the included route content makes it an immediate purchase for me too. Yay!

 

They did bring it back... like a good few weeks ago

 

Yep! Just when I was thinking things have gotten too quiet... this comes through.

 

The only thing I'm really interested in here is the WCML so we better hope it can be bought standalone. I can't wait to see more details on it!

 

The freeware WCML South is comfortably one of the best routes in all of train sim, so I'm really struggling to see the motivation behind trying to replicate that.

 

Oh yeah the menus are soooooo slow, especially if you have lots of scenarios and content installed like I do. I have to wait for like a minute for all the scenarios to load up.

 

No it was the Welsh Marches route by Bossman Games that was brought back in unbranded form.

Really? I've heard the opposite. I was getting together all the requirements for WCML South but then saw multiple complaints about its accuracy. Also the requirement list is extensive to say the least.

 

Will this include Northampton branch too?

 

It's good if you don't have all the required assets for the freeware version but if the one being made by DTG is just a worse version of that it might be worth it to buy the addons for the assets. I do remember the list of routes and other things you need being quite lengthy though...

 

Ahhh yes.. My mistake. I totally got them confused *Facepalm*. Hopefully they will bring that back for those who don't have it.

 

Being the fact that the London Route is 113 miles.. shows that they can still do lengthy routes... when they want to LOL

 

They don't base their decisions on what freeware is available, I am sure!

A lot of users only use Steam and a lot don't want to have to download lots of different assets or own several DLC to get one to run.

 

Mine takes even longer although I know my hard drive is reaching the end of it's life! The whole design of the menu's could do with changing to be honest.

 

That route is one of the best freeware routes for Train Sim, hands down. If you have the requirements then get it - it's free after all.

 

Well fair enough, if I do finish getting everything I need I probably still will then. Still happy the route is being done officially.

 

Will it be going from Birmingham New Street and also will it include Northampton?

 

It'll be interesting to see how they compare, I just hope DTG have the good common sense to make that specific route available as a standalone purchase. I've got Fife Circle and have absolutely no interest in the other 2 routes. They'll be doing themselves out of a lot of sales if they only make it available as part of the bundle.

ps Don't know if you're aware but the author of WCMLS has recently updated it to version 5.3 and removed some of the requirements for it - might be worth checking against what you currently have if you didn't know.

FWIW...

Version 5.3 Requirements

ESSENTIAL FOR ROUTE: (Must be installed prior to installation)
Steam: London to Brighton
Steam: Woodhead Line (original)
Steam: West Coast Main Line Trent Valley
Steam: Liverpool to Manchester
JustTrains: Newcastle to Edinburgh
UKTS: Freeware Pack Clutter

Steam: European Loco & Asset Pack. This is included with many routes, including the Woodhead Line (original)

ESSENTIAL FOR SCENARIOS (Must be installed prior to installation)
If you don’t have these installed, the included scenarios will fail to load correctly.
Steam: Class 390 EMU Add-On (original release)
DPSimulation: Class 390 ‘Virgin’ reskin by Horgy
JustTrains: Voyager Advanced 2019

These items must be present before installation to allow “No Driver/No passenger” patches to be applied.
(Many thanks to Leander Iversen for permission to include these patches)

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS: (highly recommended scenery items)
Steam: Edinburgh to Glasgow
Steam: ECMLS (London-Peterborough)
Steam: Riviera Line
Steam: WCML2 (over Shap)
Steam: WCML North
UKTS Freeware Pack Blocks and Lofts
UKTS Freeware Pack Clutter
UKTS Freeware Pack Railway Buildings
UKTSFile ID: 26602 & 26550 Enviro Bus packs
UKTSFile ID: 30717 DAF LF pack
UKTSFile ID: 30832 Transmission Lines
UKTSFile ID: 30726 Telegraph pole Lofts V1.1

 

They confirmed on Twitter it would be done as a stand alone as well so you are safe there.

 

Good news!

 

I'm also very eagerly awaiting news of improvements to the core of the game. They are so badly needed!

 

Why you didn't update of cpu core usage for tha game. Your previous game was using 2 cpu cores .getting only 30 fps in max settings @i7 10700k + 64GB RAM+ GTX 1080. and 2021 will also use only 2 core cpu. It would be better if I move to Trainz rail road.

 

OR = Open Rails the freeware sim.
We = I'm assuming it's the royal "we" (in other words he, himself and him) because he certainly doesn't speak for me.

 

I've not gone and checked all the prices, but even if everything on that list is only $20 (not counting the free stuff, obviously) you're north of $200 for this free route. I can see the appeal if you're a longtime collector, but a newbie like me is thinking that DTG route looks pretty, pretty, pretty good.

 

I am really hoping that the 'out of memory' crashes are fixed: we have had to put up with this for a long time. Great news about the workshop makeover.

 

No interest in the new route and the only of the 3 that are included in TS2021 that I have interest in I already own. So nothing exciting for me there.

Curious to see what updates are in store though....

 

gsmall67 No this is a totally different game to TSW/TSW2. It's the original TSW content that is no longer being updated in favour of TSW2. They never stated they were no longer doing content for Train Simulator.

Edit: Also Train Simulator content has nothing to do with TSW/TSW2, the two are completely separate.

 

I still cant get my old route to run on TS 2020 due to the out of memory error which they were NEVER able to fix for me. Also I refuse to pay money ever since they dropped the route editor. I prefer to design my own routes. Why cant they bring back the editor?

 

They haven't done anything to the editor in Train Simulator, it's still there. There do seem to be an awful lot of people who are getting Train Simulator and Train Sim World mixed up. Admittedly the similar names don't help, but still.

 

I'm really looking forward to better workshop integration. There are tons of great scenarios out there, but filtering those I have content for is a huge pain right now.

 

The "free" WCML would cost me at the very least £19.99, I just checked the Essential for route list and I'm missing the Newcastle to Edinburgh, not entirely sure what "(original)" means regarding the woodhead route though, I have "a" woodhead route that I purchased back in May of this year no idea if it's the same one as the Alan Thomson page doesn't provide links to the needed items.

As for the scenario essentials again I've no idea what the Class 390 "original release" is but the one I found on Steam is £5.99 (which I don't own) another £21.99 for the Just Trains Voyager advanced, and we're just shy of £48 and I own at least 85% of the required items...

ECMLS (London-Peterborough) is yet another £14.99 as I don't own it and I'm missing 4 ukts files and as I'm too tight to pay a subscription charge it would likely take me a week to download, so I'm guessing I'd get a lot of missing asset errors (big pink chimneys with my wotawolly's mod)

Think I'll just get the 2021 Deluxe addition.

 

WCML South is a class freeware route but I'm really pleased this gets a stand-alone release. Maybe it is a little frustrating that it's a route that's already covered but it's for the greater good of the community, it's great for those waiting for the ATS merge and even better for those who missed out on the Virgin 390. Very happy.

 

The original Woodhead is the "Woodhead Route", not the "Woodhead Electric Railway in Blue" which was released later. The original Class 390 was the Virgin Pendelino pack that was removed from Steam after Virgin pulled the license. The Class 390 that is still on Steam is poor to say the least and is not compatible with most reskins or the AP Sound pack. The original Class 390 is being reskinned in Avanti livery and will be coming with the WCML South add-on.

 

and please for the love of whatever you deem a God, re-rename it to RailWorks Simulator, you've still got 10 days you can do it!