Not sure where I should post this but need to know if anyone else is feeling the same. I’ve been playing TSW since 2018, I loved it, played it to death. I then picked up TSW2 on day one, excited to finally drive a German ICE as well as a London Underground route. Now, a little over a month after release, I’ve not played it very much for the past 2 weeks or so. In the past I’ve done every scenario on every route within a day or two but I’ve not done a single scenario on the Bakerloo line or Sand Patch Grade. The only scenarios I’ve completed are the German ICE ones. I started the game up today, got to the screen where I select which route, flicked through them and turned it off. I just couldn’t be bothered to play it, it felt a real chore to drive a train. I’m not sure if it’s the actual game I’m getting bored of or the fact I was so used to TSW, that now TSW2 is here I’m struggling to adapt to it, I just don’t know.. I’m not sure why I’m feeling like this, I’ve not burnt myself out from driving trains as when TSW2 was announced I didn’t touch TSW2020 so TSW2 would feel fresh and new. I just can’t put my finger on the problem but thought I would mention it to see if anyone else is feeling the same. I’ve decided to stay off TSW2 for a while, I’ll still visit the forums and keep an eye on the upcoming dlc’s and maybe once St Pancras - Faversham is out it’ll reel me back in but at this moment in time, TSW2 is at the bottom of my playlist.
Yeah the sim is kind of getting boring for me the ICE services are the same,I completed the LIRR journey,Penn corridor is fine but the journey's take long along with SPG. Also Bakerloo is boring. I'll just wait until MSB & RT are out to see if this sim will get anymore fun. I'll try to finish a few journey's though while i'm waiting for Phase III & IIII of the preserved collection I mean the game is nice but the lack of content makes me bored
Tbh it is a fair commitment to do a scenario, you could easily be committing to an hour of play. It's not exactly easy to jump in and out at ease. I'll probably play a lot more once the rest of the preserved collection is added, as at the moment only Tees Valley and East Coastway take my interest. Once stuff like the Tran-Pennine comes in (mostly because I live in Machester atm and it's cool to see familiar places) I'll pick things up more.
This is the case, lovin' trains. It's a difficult love. You have to somehow diversify on the side I will read it to myself about PZB, about some rolling stock, and then somehow I feel better when it comes to the whole thing. I know your discouragement very well. I don't turn anything on with it. Autumn is coming. Don't worry It passes.
I do not do scenarios, unless they are something different (i.e. Landslide ECW, or Towing the HST in GWE), this whole journey thing is just a useless gimmick to me, like collectables... Anyway, I feel the problem is a lack of content, or to be more precise a lack of variety. For example, in the East Coastway although there is not much actual content there is a lot of variety: -Actually good scenarios (broken door and landslide) -Brighton to Eastbourne -Brighton to Seaford (stopping and direct as "empty stock move") -Ghost/Parliamentary train to Newhaven Marine -Short runs to and from Lewes -Freight w/ Class 66 TSW2 now is the exact opposite, it has a lot of content but not much variety: SKA: -Talent between Koln and Aachen -ICE between Koln and Aachen LU Bakerloo: -Queen's Park to E&C -Harrows to E&C -Shunting in Queen's Park and London Road Also it doesn't help you are in a tunnel for half an hour, it gets a bit old after a while. I can't talk for SPG since the awful physics of the US trains prevents me from enjoying that route. You will see it will come back the will to play after we get the variety the SKA deserves and a more fun version of the Bakerloo, in the form of the Isle of Whight. SKA can actually be in my opinion the best route DTG has ever created, it allows for unprecedented variety of services, S-Bahn up to Düren, High Speed ICE, Semi-Fast talent and BR146 DoStos and then some freights as well. And IC services in the future when the BR101 will get added The only thing we need is for the P.Coll trains to be a little less dreadful and bugged than what they actually are.
It was very much a last minute decision to purchase TSW2, but I won't reopen that debate again! The Bakerloo was interesting to drive for a while and it was good to have an excuse to replay Sandpatch. As more of the preserved content has been released, not only are we finding the same old bugs, but lots of new ones as well. I've hardly played TSW2 in the past couple of weeks after having a couple of days where no matter what route or service I drove, I found issues, that I gave up. Until we start seeing some proper fixes from DTG, I really have no incentive to spend much time in the game, for example, Peninsular corridor, with its strange white balance gives me a headache if I try and play it for more than an hour. I do find the routes and services still lack any real variety, now I know that might be train driving in real life, but most of the "services" in the game are duplicates of a very small selection of "drives", just at a different time. If I play a couple of scenarios in the original TS, I know I am likely to get something very different each time, but I suppose that's the advantage of having the workshop, editor and some very clever members of community. Now it might controversial, but I do wonder, whether the real time 24hour timetable / service mode does the game any favours and perhaps just a larger selection of scenarios would not have been better. The service mode seems to be very difficult to test from a QA point of view, given the number of broken red lights and stalled trains we see. I find that I just access the individual services from the menu, drive one and exit to the menu again especially as once you've finished the first drive, it can be very difficult to find a second train on some routes or one that leaves within an acceptable timeframe. It would seem the need to keep the service timetable running and not to block other trains means any of the more interesting tasks such as cold starts, refuelling or any kind of dynamic event can't been implemented, so we do just end up with end to end runs all being the same.
Well I am playing 1 up to 3 hours each day after work, close to 100h playtime on steam for Tsw2... Ever since I bought that game I barely touch any other game so I might be the polar opposite of what you are experiencing
Perhaps I'm more fault tolerant since I'm also playing almost every day, getting a lot of enjoyment from the game, and looking forward to more routes opening up in the coming months.
I agree, this is a big problem... but I prefer that rather than having un-relasitic schedules. Anyway in RSN the RB91 services have a 15/20m turnaround time in Hagen if you want to do that and in the ECW services have a 10m turnaround time in Seaford
I'm glad you mentioned it, so I don't have to open another Thread. I lost a little if the fun, playing the game, but I know exactly, that it comes from the lack of variety. But more important, it comes from the missing opportunity, to drive a train from one end to the other and back again. The RE9 turns in Aachen, right, but it goes further after Cologne towards Siegen. Of course you can do that in MSB, but I did that... Yeah, I did it several times and it's just sad, that you don't have more routes, more trains to do that with. Even the Scenario Planner doesn't do that. It covers one ride from one end to the other, but won't let you get back again. So you end up, driving the train to it's destination and then you get that menu to change the service. You could get off in Cologne and wait for the next RE to hop on and take over control, but that's not it... If I drive a train, a service, I want to drive this particular train all along for like hours without leaving it or at least without changing the train. Okay that was a lot of writing, but I hope you can agree or imagine the problem. Cheers to you, Paulo
You don't have back to the menu. Choose FreeRoam instead, then the same train, but another service, or whatever You want
yes same. Also to be fair, I never found a gamebreaking bug so far, a few annoying ones but nothing that would stop me from enjoying the game. Then again I don't play Sandpatch Grade... Love the locos and consists, but from what I hear, the chances of standing at a never ending red signal after 2 1/2 hours of travel are not small and I won't take the chance on that one...
Same here. I have had TSW2 since day one and have not played anything else since. And often several hours a day
I know, I know. But let me give you an example of what I mean. You start in Free Roam. Choose a time, when an RE starts at Cologne. You walk over to the train to drive it. Then you drive all the way to Aachen. After finishing, you go to the other end of the train to wait for departure to Cologne. Then you drive to Cologne. Again, after finishing you leave the train, but this time you don't go to the other end, instead you have to wait for the next RE heading to Aachen. There are worse things than that, but I would like to take same train back. Like a full shift for like 8 hours. You know what I mean?
i had the same i would say early late last year through early this year i hadn't touched the game for sometime till i got back into playing it i find now i take my time with games to try not burn my self out playing them
Yes, but I think in reality these ICE trains do not act in the way You like to see How empty or how full the timetable is in TSW is another matter... You can go to any available service without going to the menu. You have to wait in life too Eventualy, some sandbox mode 'outside' the timetable or with multiplayer would be superb! This state of the game is ABAB, like You noticed Ain't no editing possibility. PS In the announcement of one of the Polish railway companies, for candidates for train drivers, there is a warning that the work is repetitive, very much. I guess TSW is like that too.
I'm sorry to see you have lost your motivation for playing, I hope that you eventually rekindle your joy for the game. Although you've stated you aren't sure what's caused this lack of desire to play I appreciate this thread explaining what could be the core reason, there's a good mix of feedback in here explaining what you all enjoy but also what could be causing burnout.
I mean above all else, it is absolutely normal that one looses interest over time, especially when it is repetitive as train driving inherently is. So I would not overanalyze it too much. I bet you, soon you will sit at home or at work and suddenly think "you know, I could give the old Ice another go". Apart from that, having a large collection helps tremendously. I never drive the same train twice a day and most likely not even twice within 2 days since I rotate through all routes and locos. Another thing that I really like to do is to listen to audio books while driving. I found that I achieve a great attention balance between driving the train and listening to the story!
I tend to drift in and out of console games over time. So today as Mafia: Definitive edition comes out, it's highly likely I will phase out of playing TSW every day for a while, then when some new preserved collection or new routes come along I will probably phase back in. It's fairly standard behaviour for many I would think! What I will say about the 3 new routes in TSW2 is that they are all very distinctive and whilst such a varied selection is mightily impressive for what it is, one of the things about variation is the differing experiences provided and if people are minded to prefer heavy rail passenger services for example, they only really got one new route with TSW2, so it's not really a surprise burnout might occur sooner rather than later. As one of those people I don't delve too much in to the Bakerloo line because the stops are too frequent and the speeds too low, but I recognise it as a truly amazing achievement, as with Sand Patch Grade, there is likely some fun I will have with it eventually but initially it just doesn't really fulfil what I most enjoy in TSW. I don't hold any of this against DTG as it is obvious if they released 3 new routes in TSW2 all exactly the same there's be someone writing the same thing I am but about how they wanted more variety, so it is what it is, just maybe explains why TSW2 and its new routes don't provide endless captivation for everyone.
I usually play TSW 2020 or TSW 2 for a couple of hours alternating with some other games during a week. I get "bored" with mostly any game after a while, if i overdo it. Because i don´t play TSW exclusivly, i also don´t feel the urge of new content being released really quickly. And driving without markers makes it more interesting for me.
yeah playing with no HUD is quite fun and challenging like i did ECW doing it and i took notes of braking areas and what notch to brake on and soon came comfortable driving without needing the notes all to much and then during lockdown i learned pzb and how to use no hud for that
I think playing with no bugs would be more fun. There are so many bugs in every route, that there is no fun to play this game anymore. Sorry dovetail games, you made the most expensive bug collection ever.
Think I've driven at least one route every day since shortly after release -- lots more than 100hours . I also listen to audiobooks when driving and once I have an idea of what a route is like, I turn off all the HUDs. Realism is good. I think many of us would have grown tired of TSW2 with only the original release to play with, but with the gradual return of the legacy routes and the promise of eventual new routes I'm still hooked. Someday they may even re-create my dream route, the Titfield Thunderbolt. It was steam and based on a Welsh route, so hopefully Natster is lobbying for it. Things that might help motivate people . . . -- Better documentation would be nice and checklists / manuals would be a good start. Took me ages to figure out German safety systems. -- Scenarios often seem to be an afterthought, don't they? Clever scenarios and more of them would keep a lot of us motivated. Scenarios can be released as an update, can't they? -- More routes will be grand -- I'll never drive the underground, but a huge part of the appeal of Train Simulator seems to be the variety. -- No bugs would be ideal, but for now I have to remember the people at DTG are working from their homes, and in that sort of environment, orderly project management frequently turns into a pig's breakfast. It will be a while before these circumstances change, won't it?
It's only natural to lose interest in something which never changes. The timetable runs like clockwork and has to because so many people would get upset if their train was delayed and they lost points as a result. Maybe an option to introduce some random element into the timetable would spice things up a bit. Those of us who could not care less about points and medals could hit the random button and each journey would either be routine or a series of yellows and reds, just like real life. I'm suffering from the same lack of enthusiasm at the moment. I haven't driven anything since early August. I try to make things a bit different by taking my time setting the train up and leaving late. On the Darlington to Saltburn run for example, my first job is to reverse the train into the station and start from there rather than from the platform end. Another thing which could increase realism and add variety would be a proper dynamic weather system. The weather rarely stays the same for long in the UK and the ability to experience that in game would make a big difference. In real life, I've entered Standedge tunnel in sunshine and emerged into snowfall at the Marsden end. Sometimes, TSW feels like hard work. You are told what time to leave, what time to arrive, how fast to go, which route to take. The scenario planner is a good step forward in this regard but from what I've seen, needs to be a lot more flexible regarding routing and stopping points. Being able to run any stock with any compatible locomotive would be a big help too.
You're still not getting my point. Of course an ICE doesn't do that. I'm german. I know that. But think of the other routes, the other trains. Let me show you, what we can expect with all preserved and new trains on Köln-Aachen: ICE3M: Köln - Aachen (Frankfurt - Bruxelles MIDI) BR442: Aachen - Köln (Aachen - Siegen) Dostos with BR143 & 146.2: Aachen - Köln (Aachen - Hamm) BR423: Düren - Köln (Düren - Au) As you see, all services which are actually driving on this route, are only partially to drive in the game. I could do that for every route. The only exceptions (existing and coming) are MSB, Rapid Transit and Hamburg - Lübeck. But on every route, it's the same train to drive back and forth. Do you know which one? Exactly. The Dostos and 143/146.2/182. Nothing against these trains and locos, but I would rather drive something different back and forth, than the same stock over and over again. Something like the 423 or a new regional train like the 440. (Already existing in TS) Now I don't want to state my point another time, because someone at DTG might have understood this. I hope you understand this too now. P. S. I'm aware of the fact, that you have to wait in real life, before driving back, but usually train drivers don't change the train every time. They stick on their train for the whole shift. (Except if something goes wrong with the train)
I understand you perfectly well, but this game has such a formula. TSW is ABAB, Run8 a sandbox, etc. What's better - I don't know? I play everything! eeeverything yhyhy I think we all wish the game to be more complex - merged-routes, various rolling stock, rich timetables. And yes, You are right, Frankfurt and Brussels are missing from the SKA map
Okay, well then. I got the impression, that the opposite were the case. At the end, the above mentioned things are something, that keeps me from playing TSW2 more often than I used to play TSW2020. Let's hope it gets better with the release of Munich - Augsburg and so on.
Even if i do care about medals and trophys, i would definitley turn the random button on. It´s more fun, if you have to "work" for your rewards.
I think its boring because there no dynamic events. IRL there would be passengers holding the doors, being disruptive, and track work. In order for the game to not get boring after a couple of round trips, there needs to be better sound recreation, dynamic events, and different things to do (be a guard/conductor for some services etc.)
Workmen on or near the tracks would be good. You could get AP for sounding the horn to warn them etc.
I think it would be enought to just make some services depart late they might appear in timetable for example as: RB91 Siegen - Hagen (L - 0010) Signifying it's going to depart 10 minutes late, so if you have a train departing after it, for example the faster RE16, you might expect to get disruption near finnentrop as the train ahead calls at more station than your and loses more time, no need to add randomness, just know that x service is late so if you do y service you'll get delayed as well. There was somthing like this in Rapid Transit (although the trains weren't flagged in any particular way, just some services were done in a way to get stuck behind another train in front). Also I can't waif for the signalling in the Köln-Düren S-Bahn which has a pretty significant single-track section
I did have one occasion in ECW in which departure time came from Lewes towards Brighton and the signal was red. Naturally assumed the game wanted me to close doors before clearing the signal (odd to have to get used to though) so I did so, and the objective updated but the light remained red. I reopened the doors and waited. A minute later a train comes around the curve and crosses over in front of me to the platform on my left hand side. That is the kind of variation that makes it a little more interesting. Having to chase yellows, being held for other services, times that you need to employ more defensive driving, that's where a bit of the fun and success comes from - as you then have to work harder to hit a target. Without that variation, it becomes monotonous A-B-A-B work - which is fine in itself but then we only rely on scenarios for any variety of that. That's just my two cents though!
I think what most of us need is for the TSW2 route catalog to grow, I have no doubt your excitement will return once we have a bigger selection of routes to choose from in TSW2. Even though it’s great we are getting all of our TSW routes in TSW2, it’s created a slight less interesting time as we have already played many hours on these routes.
If you dont have the motivation to fire up tsw2. Give yourself a break from it. Soon we’ll have WSR NTP and GWE. You’ll be refreshed and have some of TSWs best content to download.
I've never played a train sim in my life until last month when I stumbled upon a live You Tube stream with Sam extolling the virtues of TSW2 which was coming out the day after...i got it straight away on the strength of the Bakerloo Line, played it for hours (mainly as a passenger), walked the entire length of the track with the exception of a pesky bridge with an invisible wall...bought ALL of the preserved lines, and slowly working my way through it. Being on furlough/redundancy, I've been spending hours playing this, mainly in real time and with the weather at the time. I'll either get bored of it or I'll have another job soon, but for now I'm enjoying it...bugs and all!
I don’t know if I’m imagining it but the timetables seem to be more rigid in newer releases with the same pattern repeating every hour. I’m sure there was more variation throughout the day in older content. I was a bit dismayed to find that all the RE services in HRR have the same stopping pattern too. If that’s what it’s like for real then that’s fair enough and the same could be said for timetables but the timings of freight trains could be mixed up a little so some services get delayed behind one. I think it has to do with the inflexible nature of the dispatcher and its inability to troubleshoot and DTG keeping things rigid to avoid conflicts breaking services. It can get predictable very quickly. Maybe a little more imagination in the timetabling would make things more interesting.
Like you I had never played a train sim until a few months ago in my case when I spotted TSW 2020 in a sale in the store and liked the look of it. I decided to purchase it and have never looked back since. TSW 2 came out two or three months after and I got that on day one. Not played much else either since getting 2020, and like you I am enjoying TSW 2, and the bugs I can put up with. Annoying a bit sometimes for a few seconds then I reload and do it again, or get on with something else. I have all the routes apart from one and I will get that the next time it is in a sale, and have most of the locos.
I was going to make this thread! I've played hundreds and hundreds of hours in TSW, but I've barely even picked up TSW2. It's just not doing it for me, and, like you, I have trouble pinpointing exactly why I'm not enjoying it. Here are my personal thoughts, The User Interface The main menu where you select your route feels like you're playing 3 separate games. I feel the way it's presented in TSW2 is disconnected from the rest of the game. I can easily play TSW1 and hop from Peninsula Corridor to East Coastway comfortably, but in TSW2 I have to quit to the main hub and take that extra step. Yeah, it's a moot point, but that's my opinion. The in-game UI. I can't get used to it. I strongly dislike the little image of the train showing which doors are open, or the other image showing the train is on an incline, etc... I don't understand why they're there. It takes me an extra second to simply find and retrieve the information I need, because it's so cluttered. The rest of the UI is, in my opinion, busy. I don't like the font, the size, and the colours (red/gold/black) The Controls Some scenarios and training require the Immersion Controls. I feel like I'm not in control, and can't do what I want to do. A step backwards, in my opinion. First Impressions The game immediately pushes you from one scenario to another. I had to manually turn it off. Imagine a new player having to do switching for 40 scenarios with the GP38-2 before he experiences the AC4400CW? Strange. Gameplay TSW2 is not as smooth as TSW on my console. It runs sloppier. Bakerloo Line sometimes freezes for a second every now and again.
Not to mention the various bugs. I think they need to fix the bugs first, then try to make a realistic and immersive Simulation/Experience. Dynamic Events, Random things happening, etc. all things a real operator has to deal with. I think in its current shape, the game is dull. All you’re doing is going back and forth along a line. No faulty doors, disruptive passengers, passengers holding doors or other stuff. Another big thing is sound design, having been on some of the trains that’s in the game (and seen plenty of videos for the others) I can say with confidence, that the sound design isn’t great. There’s no announcements, no track noise (on some routes), and sometimes traction motor noise is too loud. Sound is a very important part of being immersed in a simulator. This game doesn’t have good sound design. The only thing I can say currently is that we should all take a break from TSW and wait until they actually decide on patching things. I’d prefer bug patches before any new content comes out. Who knows, maybe Rivet’s Isle Of Wight DLC can be better than all of DTG’s routes combined. It sure looks like Rivet is trying to iron out the bugs BEFORE release. Also, DTG needs a bigger team. ONLY 150 MEMBERS? FOR AN EXPANSIVE TRAIN SIMULATOR? THATS ON CONSOLES TOO? They need to hire more people, there should be no reason that there’s only 3 people working on the Preserved Collection currently. Hire some people for part-time work. Hire some people for sound design. Since we’re in a time of social distancing, contract/hire some people in different countries. Try America, Germany, etc. maybe we can get some of the sounds of the M7/M3 fixed too.
"Also, DTG needs a bigger team. ONLY 150 MEMBERS? FOR AN EXPANSIVE TRAIN SIMULATOR? THATS ON CONSOLES TOO? They need to hire more people, there should be no reason that there’s only 3 people working on the Preserved Collection currently. Hire some people for part-time work. Hire some people for sound design. Since we’re in a time of social distancing, contract/hire some people in different countries. Try America, Germany, etc. maybe we can get some of the sounds of the M7/M3 fixed too." They are always hiring and emphasize on each stream that they are, it seems as if it is not that they don't want to hire. Maybe they have few applicants. Also they are outsourcing jobs that can't be hired full time for. If you know a thing or two about modding or coding and have the time, apply for a job if you think you can help and maybe it is already enough to assist in something not full time.
I agree, the sound design leaves a lot to be desired. Sound can have such a powerful impact on gameplay. I remember my first experience playing the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 beta on Xbox 360 when it first released, and the main takeaway from that experience was the sound. It really felt like I was there! I know the team for TSW isn't too large, but I've noticed smaller businesses that produce model trains actually go into the field and do sound recordings for the locomotives with great results. I'm 100% that these rail companies would be willing to spend half a day and allow DTG to safely record some sound effects. Wouldn't that be amazing marketing for both parties?
One thing that can improve experience is having more traffic. Using more platforms, to overtake or be overtaken, give way to departing trains or arriving ones, riding the yellows and so on To feel the peak hours/rush hours.
Even though I've only been playing Train Sim games for a few months I haven't noticed the flaws like some of you have, my only criticism is the timetables...or lack of them, being a passenger and waiting ages for a train to come is boring when you can't drive a train properly (I'm slowly learning), one of the German routes has something like 370 services on one timetable, has anyone at DTG tried doing a full proper timetable service for one of the routes, see how the AI copes. Maybe in time when routes are joined together the experience might be that more enjoyable.
I'd like more yellows. It gets boring when every service has steady greens. Also what was the reason for the lack of a route builder again? That was disappointing because there were teams already assembled with work in progress for the extension of the LIRR and Amtrak's NEC.
