What is the point of trying to earn points in career scenarios? I have tried and failed, for instance, Ran the first scenario in WCML over Shap Started at Dumfies and abided by speed limits and red signals, I had 250 points when arriving at Carlisle but minus 1625 by the time I left (4 mins late) This game does not encourage me to keep trying
I only drive career because what is the point of driving non career scenarios? Drive non career you can drive a route 3 times faster without care about the speed. There are no challenge to drive non career scenarios. I see them pointless to drive
I drive to enjoy the sim, to enjoy the experience of pretending to be a train driver, I try to emulate how a real driver would act and deliver the freight or the passengers safely and within the real world guidelines and constraints (as much as the sim allows), I do not chase points it is not an arcade game to me, I do not drive a 60mph line speed at 60.9mph and approach platforms at brake neck speeds and then slam it into maximum brake setting in the hope I make the stop just to try and maintain the timetable constraints of the scenario, yes I try to keep as close to the timetable as possible but I do this by driving as smoothly and as sensibly as I can and learn when and where to apply the brakes for maximum comfort, safety and efficiency. To me TS is my escapism into the life and career I never got the opportunity to pursue, not a game where I score points and measure my enjoyment by little green ticks next to a scenario name. You want to know what I do with career scenarios? I change them to standard scenarios with TSTools, That's how much (read little) career mode means to me.. You play it how you want to of course, all I'm trying to say is that there's a whole lot more depth and enjoyment to be had from this sim if you start treating it like a simulator and not an arcade game.
All good points, Reef. It speaks to the fundamental difference between TS1 and TSW. The former is trying harder to be a simulator than the latter, at least in how it’s interface and gameplay are presented. To me it fells like scenarios are something you can only drive once or twice as you know what’s going to happen regarding any signalling issues etc* you’ll come across. To me it seems strange that there isn’t a timetable mode in TS1 that would incorporate elements of random problems from time to time at a rate you might expect in the real world. Even if that means my service is cancelled half way through, which I know is anathema to some as an idea. But hey. I’m a newbie. I’m sure there are reasons! *: I get the feeling there’s a proper term here but my inexperience leaves me lacking.
The scoring does often seem arbitrary and in no few instances it is impossible to gain the full thousand points. I get the impression (as with the Achievements) that it's more of a Steam thing than a Dovetail thing. Your Career score/level doesn't gain you anything as it increases such as opening up new challenges. My advice is just to enjoy the drive. That said when set up properly It can be a helpful indication of where you may be making mistakes and how to improve your driving.
I have only recently ventured into TS2021 after starting my train driving with TSW2020 on the Xbox when it was released and then moving to TSW2, I tried TS2021 for the extra variation of routes and trains. I do prefer standard scenarios but there seems to be a lack of scenarios to play and quick drive with no other traffic is boring so, I tried making my own but after two weeks and lots of hair pulling moments, gave up on that. There is a mention of converting career to standard with TSTools, I downloaded that but have no idea how to use it as it doesn't seem to be very user friendly for a 70 year old.
You can also disable the scoring for career scenarios in options. I prefer this, becasue standard scenarios mark late scheduled passenger stops as failure (which can happen if the scenario is set-up wrong). Carrer scenario just reduce points, but the task, and thus whole scenario, is considered sucessful
Yes so simple in fact I'd forgotten to mention this, it's something I'd done long ago and should also have mentioned.
There are LOADS of Scenarios on groups such as UKTS https://www.uktrainsim.com/ and the Workshop https://steamcommunity.com/app/24010/workshop/ and on Alan Thompson Sim https://alanthomsonsim.com/
Real train drivers don't sit at PC's, neither do they choose locos or routes for entertainment. This is a game that has a strong railway theme and partial realism, but ultimately it's a pastime, not a job and not real. We play for entertainment, and we can get that entertainment in any way we want. I love career scenarios, and I especially love achievements. There are many equally valid ways to enjoy TS2021.
This is obviously true, but the way career scenarios make you drive, is not really very realistic. Why would you use a simulator and not be bothered with accuracy? It's like the people who play flight sims, and don't bother learning about flying, and just follow the magenta line. To me the goal is to be on time, by driving safely, and accurately after practicing a route, so you can drive with the HUD off. There's far more satisfaction in doing that than getting a "score".
Here is the issue with many career scenarios...... The time to make your stops in most scenarios are to tight. You have to push the throttle to full power immediately or/and stop really hard with full brake at the station (no normal slow-down). Otherwise it is impossible to make the time schedule.
Yes, but that's what makes them a challenge and gets your heart racing when you're driving on the edge. I like my games to be exciting, not beige.
You can eventually look at your experience points, thinking, I've done a lot. I consider it XP, not Trophy Points, albeit it's often presented as such. Same here ultimately, at first I was thinking about 1000 points as a proof of proper perfection, in the same way as people say around here, if you go speeding or cross a red, you get fired. But then I came across a bunch of impossible scenarios and after some sweating and steaming, I figured I'll just drive and points will be a secondary objective. (I run scenarios a few times so I can make mental notes and score better.) People are obsessed with scoring 1000 points but if you look at it as XP, it's better to move on and play the next scenario, score 900 points, than tryhard the same one for another 50 points. For me the positive breaking point has been free roaming. Standard scenarios are actually more cruel, you can speed but you totally cannot be late, or the objectives will fail in a binary fashion. Playing those free roams took me out of this cycle of tryharding, and thus I approach things as you say.
It is pointless. The points don’t matter. They are like last week’s TV Guide. It doesn’t matter either. When my PDL videos come out, you will get to see a scenario worth only 400 points. Total. No stars possible, And DTG sees no reason to fix this, or others. Oxford Bound (GWML) shows times in red in the editor. Proof it cannot be done. I fixed it in five minutes.