I understand that this might be controversial but I think a healthy argument/discussion is good. What is Train Sim World? I'm writing this from the perspective of a xbox player and although that doesn't really affect anything, there's a few differences between it and PC for example. Simulator: A machine designed to provide a realistic imitation of the controls and operation of a vehicle, aircraft, or other complex system, used for training purposes - Oxford Languages. When you first boot up the game you get this message saying make sure you always obey the railway rules in real life, don't mess around etc. Then when you load up a tutorial your taught how to drive and operate the train in a realistic manor. But then in the next breathe they say don't forget to jump out the cab and run around like headless chicken to pick up ice creams, fix fences and put up posters like that's my job as a train driver. I understand I don't have to do those activities and it adds diversity but If I wanted to do other stuff like fix fences I'd just go and play construction simulator. I didn't buy Train Sim World to put up posters, I, funnily, got it to drive trains. Ultimately, whever I have to find the collectibles or not, these collectibles are still there and with them being in the game it just ruins the whole 'simulator' part of it. Oh and don't forget to look out for the pirate ship being eaten by a giant squid on West Cornwall and the UFO on Cathcart Circle! You can't have the game both ways, it's either a simulator or it's not. A giant squid and a UFO isn't simulating real life it's just a massive gimmick to get more people playing your 'simulator' unrealistically. What makes it even more annoying is that we get poor quality products because developers arnt given enough time to develop what's important, but someone is still allocating time to make a squid model and a UFO model rather than using that time to work on something more relevant like GSMR or better playability options. On Xbox, the quality of sounds in the game is terrible, rarely like real life unless they are sounds from another company like Armstrong Powerhouse. Yes I know consoles have limitations but there are work arounds for it. Train Sim World has been on console for years and it's still poor quality with seemingly no effort to improve it. Instead time is poured into adding 'Easter eggs' that are definitely not relevant to a train simulator. If Dovetail just admitted its not a simulator and didn't do the blatant lie of 'the immersive and highly detailed Rail simulator featuring authentic routes and trains', it wouldn't annoy me as much. It's fairly clear that most of the people playing Train Sim World are what most would call 'casual players' or 'pedestrian gamers'. In other words, they either don't care that its not exactly like real life or they arnt really aware that it's not. Which is fine, if that's your biggest audience then do what you think they will enjoy but just stop lying and saying it's a 'simulator' because it's just not. I really want to know what other people's opinions are. Why did you buy the game? What do you spend most of your time doing in the game? Did you ask for a giant squid model? Do you care about collectibles? Do you wish development was utilised differently? And remember to keep the discussions fair and not full on arguments.
It’s both, it’s down to you as the player they allow you to put the level of immersion, for me I play every UK based route with all systems on. Could I do that with the German routes not a chance I’m still trying to get my head around it all so being able to enjoy them routes without the systems on is a really good thing. Also it’s allowed my 5 year old to enjoy the game. they have made some such errors but only hindsight has shown that. No other game map is as big as they are in this game, they will have been laughed at for doing what they are doing on console which is why they keep hitting all the issues they have done. No other games has countless dlc or achievements. As far a I can see they are the only train simulator on console. Everyone pointed at another one that I can’t remember the name of and it did allow you to be the conductor but it’s not being released on console.
I feel like it's both. Features like collectables are more designed to get you to explore the route and Mastery does just the same, it makes use of the fact that you can walk around and I don't think having things you could easily ignore makes TSW any worse or less of a simulator. I think pretty much everything else is what makes it a sim, whilst there's still a lot DT could do and add to make TSW a better sim, what we have now is what I'd still consider a simulator. I think collectables and mastery are more aimed at newcomers than people who have already established themselves in the community. It's nice that they don't but a greater focus needs to be put features that aren't already in the game that make it live up to its name fully. GSM-R for example, in the 313 release they got it to a point where at At least it lights up which is a step in the right direction but still and a long way to go, it doesn't matter whether it doesn't or can't interact with existing systems in-game or not, as long as we can set it up that's fine. If TS can have it why can't we?
You already gave yourself the best advice here. Just don‘t interact with it. Some people enjoy that sort of thing and it doesn‘t take anything away from the experience of driving a train. They‘re mastery overlays. Don‘t turn them on and don‘t be annoyed by them It‘s not rocket science. Not everyone catches the streams, but if you did, you‘d know that the UFO was done by Adam‘s preservation team who operate on their on timeline. No time needed for new features was taken away. But it‘s still a simulator. It has gamified (excuse the neologism) aspects, obviously, but that doesn‘t change that it‘s a fairly accurate simulation of operating trains including all of the real world safety systems in place. I bought TSW as a train simulator on console and have gotten exactly what I wanted - a train simulator on console. I happily ignore collectibles and other such shenanigans. Ultimately, I don‘t get why this discussion comes up again and again. TSW is TSW, I don‘t see why it‘s so important to classify it one way or another.
I totally agree with your statement 100%. Am on series x, i got tsw 2020 on xbox one when it came out. Then got tsw2. Then got series x. The sound issue been going a long time and still the same. I play it to drive trains and make it as real as i can with weather like whats outside my window. I dont give a damn about the donkey, ufo and other easter eggs. I got it to enjoy the trains.
It’s a game, I say this as a professional train driver, but a game with the potential to be used as a proper simulator. Would need some tweaks but this could be used for actual driver training.
It's really hard to say that Train Sim World is purely a game or a simulator. I see it as a game as you can search for collectables and enjoy some little rewards with Mastery, and also the creative aspect with Livery Designer and the Scenario Planner. Obviously it's not realistic for the driver to get off at a station to plant some flowers, but the player is able to do so to add a little bit of excitement to the game. And we're allowed to throw an ICE onto an unelectrified desert freight route, because while it's not realistic, it makes the game a bit more fun. But I feel like I can still claim that TSW is a simulator, as it does a good job of simulating real life routes and trains. The developers take time to try to replicate the appearance, physics, and sounds of trains, and they spend time to get the accurate speed limits, timetables, and whatever else to try and immerse the player to believe that they really are driving a commuter train in Glasgow, or a freight train up large Virginia mountains. While I call TSW a game, it strives to be somewhat accurate to a real train driving experience that would be unappealing to many people who are looking for a "train game". I see no right or wrong answer to if it's a game or a simulator.
Train sim world is a sim-cade. It has sim aspects but also gamey aspects such as collectables. It's not a full simulator. I do like collecting collectables even though they arent necessary features to have. Of course a train driver isn't gonna run onto the tracks to fix a fence or run around stations putting up first aid kits, adverts and vague route maps but it's good to give players other things they can do besides driving trains. Also they can simply be ignored as well. The rewards for mastery aren't really rewarding and the points and medal system is quite useless frankly in my opinion since it's easy to get a gold. Also the challenges are so easy that it feels like you don't master anything. Overall imo train sim world is both a game and a sim and there is no right or wrong in thinking that
Maybe a DTG wants to connect two worlds. A world of gamers, an a world of fun of simmulations. Both are profitable. I wonder which ones are bigger.
This definition of simulator is inaccurate, because that definition is for stuff like this Your mouse and keyboard don't provide any realistic imitation of the controls of a vehicle, and most of consumer-grade software doesn't provide a realistic imitation of real world operations, you don't talk to a human dispatcher do you? Not even ZuSi. The only thing that would qualify as simualtor by that standard would be a guy in a home cockpit/train cab communicating using VATSIM or a Train-Sim equivalent, only using the most realistic software. This is the definition you are looking for: "A simulation video game describes a diverse super-category of video games, generally designed to closely simulate real world activities.[1] A simulation game attempts to copy various activities from real life in the form of a game for various purposes such as training, analysis, prediction, or simply entertainment" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulation_video_game Back to TSW, if you decided you don't care about the collectables, the only downside is seeing blank posters and maps, which can be annoying, but ultimately won't interfere with realistic train operations, and if you turn the HUD off you can simply ignore everything else as well, but that requires (like real life) route learning, system and train knowledge. If you run completely Hudless, with some community made documentation to give a representation of the real one, using the better made DLCs, TSW can surely be considered a Simulator, while offering other things to do for people that like to do these things.
I tend to agree that the OP's question has kinda been done to death. Personally, i engage with the parts of the game I like and ignore those i don't. But, OP is spot-on about the sound on Xbox. It's been atrocious ever since the transition to TSW2 and I really hope they get it sorted out soon. I have some hope since they've been hiring sound engineers, but that looping sound bug is figuratively killing me- please fix it DTG!
So I am right in thinking that I could theoretically start any of the British locos in this game from a cold start based on what this game/simulator teaches us? I will admit that I wish DTG took the simulation just a little bit more seriously and had us starting the locos properly with switching all of the safety systems on when we are doing the tutorials
The sound is apparently down to DTG using an old Microsoft sound system that all other developers have abandoned because it's crap. They're apparently speaking to others to get help to fix the issue but IIRC on a stream it was said that it might end up with us needing to totally redownload the whole game
How are graphics artists who would be the ones designing and implementing the mastery nonsense supposed to also program a GSMR (which would have no function in game any more than the "working" AP version does in TS1), or "playability options" (whatever those are)? Graphics designers do graphics, so maybe they could redesign the look of the GSM console, but not the operability of it, that would be a programmer's job. In the end this IS a sim-game, as in it simulates parts of the operations of the trains it represents, but it's not a simulator like train companies use with proper buttons and all (as those people posted above). Within the limitations of what a console or PC can provide without redesigning your front room...
Why did someone take Mars to court to prove a mars bar doesn't help you rest? People like to pigeon-hole, some also like to try to prove everyone else wrong
Of course TSW is a game, but each person can adapt it to their preferences or what they feel like at that moment. For example, when I drive, I try to move towards simulation by turning on all safety systems, turning off the HUD and only using the cockpit view. And this becomes very rewarding, especially on German roads where it is essential to be 100% concentrated on constantly looking at the signs for recognition. Of course it's not like a simulator that railway companies have for driver training, but I don't think we'll ever have anything better than this on a console, or even close to the concept of a simulator. Of course, when I play like this I never get out of the cab to stick posters or look for other collectibles. And then there are times when I feel like playing more relaxed, i.e. I'll walk into a station and look for collectibles, then I'll get on a train as a passenger and enjoy the scenery, then I'll get off at a station and relax watching all the movement of trains up and down the line, which is amazing on routes like SEHS, BML or BRD. And then I have the option to hop on any other train, stroll to the next station or take control of any train whenever I feel like it. This combination for me is the reason why TSW is so great and why I never get tired of playing.
