Main photograph above, copyright Jeremy Segrott. Partner Programme developer Armstrong Powerhouse are bringing their absolutely detailed Class 150/2 to Steam and Dovetail Games Stores! READ MORE
Will those who own the original 150/2 get a discount on this? I like the 150/2 but I don't want to be paying £15 - £20 (which is more than I payed for the original) for a train I already own which is good enough as it is. Plus the original came with quite a few liverys but the AP version only comes with 1.
Actually the AP version has 21 liveries and 6 scenarios, but DTG are removing 3 scenarios and 19 liveries when they port it to Steam. For the full experience buy it directly from AP's website
I like to buy stuff from Steam as I like making scenarios for Steam Workshop. I bought APs Class 313 from Steam. It would be a different situation for those who don't have the original 150/2 pack. For those who do own the original 150/2, it feels like your paying more than the base price of the original 150/2 for whats essentially an upgrade.
In fact we make no changes at all to content packages that are provided to us by a Developer to publish. In almost all cases, the developers quite often feel they are best positioned to make the decisions as to what is right for them to publish on Steam Best, Steve
Then AP probably removed all the liveries because they're not going to get away with selling it for £20 on Steam. Here's the 150/2 on AP's site for a comparison https://www.armstrongpowerhouse.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=181
Actually I think this (provided the Steam version is cheaper) is really a good strategy - hard core simmers (the ones who want perfection, the ones that won’t run a GWR train out of Darlington) will got to AP and pay a higher price. For them the additional cost is worth it for the variety of skins. - more casual simmers get access to a decent piece of software, at a lower price through Steam Dovetail get a nicely crafted train and something new to sell that needs limited resources on their side. AP get access to a very big market. The return may be less (after all the commissions) but they might get more sales. Also it might get those Steam purchasers interested in AP and their wider product range directly. I also wonder if a lot of AP sales are made just after the introduction of a new product. Today I was on AP buying something else and the site and the checkout was very slow. That’s probably a lot of people buying the newly released Class 314/315. Turning over to Steam older slower selling AP products could give them new life from a marketing point of view. To me this is a win-win for all involved if the pricing differential is right.
Personally, I like the way the Class 90 was done. The AP site may have more paint jobs, but the paint jobs don’t overlap with the Steam ones, that way there was a reason for everyone to buy all the Class 90 packs. But with this one here, it’s a paint job that the AP version already has, so the AP version is objectively superior in terms of content, and AP won’t make any sales from those who already got the 150. The 90 was just smarter marketing really, that at the same time feels a lot less like money grabbing because it was something different. But what other paint jobs could be added to the 150 anyway? ATW is a good choice, and the main pack already covers pretty much anything.
Sounds pretty cool. The only gripe I have is that they should have made it with 3 liveries. Instead of 2 ATW liveries, they should have made one in ATW, one in GWR, and one in Northern for routes like Settle to Carlisle, Liverpool to Manchester, the York-Newcastle ECML, and the WCML Over Shap route. Plus it's not really fair making this as a DLC for the North Wales Coastal route, since I don't think that many people bought the TS2018 package when it came out. Maybe if they made the route available as a standalone DLC like it should be, then this would be okay. But not now, unless they released it with more liveries. Besides, most people are probably gonna buy this to use on multiple routes, not just Welsh routes.
The scenarios are not for the North Wales Coastal route. The scenarios are for the South Wales Bristol to Swansea, which way more people have. Also if someone wants more liveries for scenario making or whatever, then they should buy the version off of AP. The only downside to that is of course the Steam workshop support.
Well AP will not necessarily limit themselves to the One ATW livery. As seen with the 313 an extra market place livery was added. If this goes well they may just add a FGW or GWR livery. Only time will see
The people that aren't too bothered about having loads of liveries and want to save a few bob, then they can get the cheaper version on Steam. I like to class myself as a hardcore simmer, but then again I'd rather save nearly a tenner and have less liveries. I use my imagination and make my own scenarios where an ATW 150 could be on loan or whatever.
