Questions Before Buying

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by belykoral, Dec 17, 2021.

  1. belykoral

    belykoral New Member

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    With new hardware able to run TSW, I may finally buy it. Train Simulator (16) and Trainz (12) did not convince me; the former for its ridiculous DLC policy and decade-old, unoptimised engine, the latter creative physics and yet another dated engine.

    TSW being the only modern train sim (please, Microsoft, give us a new train simulator after the new flight simulator!), I am highly interested in it. While I do not lan to buy any DLC, the stock content - especially CSX Heavy Haul - should keep me busy. Despite the short and shorter route lengths, the introduction of Service Mode should incr 10.0.0.0.1 ease replayability.

    How are the physics? Gameplay? Are there any (big) issues with the game?

    Thank you.
     
    Last edited: Dec 20, 2021
  2. Nick Y

    Nick Y Well-Known Member

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    You'll need to post this in the PC section of the Train Sim World forum as this is for Train Simulator.
     
  3. TimeSlicedDanny

    TimeSlicedDanny Active Member

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    belykoral, TSW is a bin-full of garbage. TS2022 is the only simulator worth getting.

    Whatever your railway interests they will be better served in TS2020. There is more to train simming than shiny graphics.
     
    Last edited: Dec 17, 2021
  4. SJA

    SJA Active Member

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    I'm unsure as to what the difference between TS's DLC model and TSW's DLC model is? TS's is no more or less ridiculous than TSW's, there's just more of it to choose from.
     
  5. Clumsy Pacer

    Clumsy Pacer Well-Known Member

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    I'm gonna get shot down for saying this, but there are quite a few trains in TSW that are much nicer to drive than their TS1 counterpart I think. PZB implementation is also a lot more consistent it seems. TSW also has an actual air brake simulation unlike the vast majority of things in TS1 (even then it's apparently a bit of a bodge job). There are, I will say, some things with rather questionable physics, such as Rivet's diesel-electric sprinter.

    The main difference is that loco DLCs are built for a specific route which you need to own to use them, apparently they're looking at changing that system though, but they've been saying that for a while.
     
  6. 749006

    749006 Well-Known Member

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    What is a Diesel Electric Sprinter?
     
  7. Clumsy Pacer

    Clumsy Pacer Well-Known Member

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    Rivet Games made a route set in west cornwall. For some unfathomable reason they completely borked the physics and it acts like a diesel electric, not a diesel hydraulic. All of Rivet's TSW DLCs are generally regarded as a bit crap.
     
    Last edited: Dec 17, 2021
  8. 749006

    749006 Well-Known Member

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    Oh Dear :D
     
  9. SJA

    SJA Active Member

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    Shows how much I know - completely escaped me that stock is married to routes by the timetable system :D In respect to the original post I can't see how that improves the DLC model compared to TS Classic's one. There's just less of it to bankrupt oneself with.
     
  10. torfmeister

    torfmeister Guest

    TS content ranges from brilliant to utter crap. Check youtube reviews before buying content. Schnauzahpowahz does great reviews.
     
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  11. nwp1

    nwp1 Well-Known Member

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    Their routes are no better. I know this is a TS forum but I will comment about Rivet’s route building as it really is so disappointing. West Cornwall is the worst route they have created and I hope they will work hard and give us the realistic route we and the County of Cornwall deserve. At present it looks like a model railway not a real world one and St. Ives is a joke and a very amateurish production. If they work on it and make it look like a professional life like production they will get my praise, but for the present this route should never have been released as it is an embarrassment to DTG and the fine TSW2 collection.

    I will not purchase another Rivet route until they have corrected the flaws in West Cornwall. They have just released some improvements for their Arosa Linie, so I hope there will be improvements for West Cornwall coming soon. I also hope DTG’s design team give them some help to improve West Cornwall.
     
    Last edited: Dec 21, 2021
  12. westcastlerail

    westcastlerail Active Member

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    Judging by NWP1 post, not surprised to see a year on since I left the "dark side" (TSW) and came over to TS, that the quality issues with TSW still remain.

    Back to the original question, physics - no problems at all is TS.

    Gameplay
    If you like walking around "clitchy" environments, collecting old junk, driving trains at brake neck speed that sound awful to score points to go up a meaningless leader board, then go with TSW.

    If you like "realistically" the simulation of driving trains then TS is the best option.

    Pick an era and route of interest to you, and then slowly start to purchase and build your DLC, through one of the many online sales.

    As with any Simulator, there a bit of pain learning the in and outs (especially scenario creation) but once done, many happy hours of train driving enjoyment awaits!
     
  13. triznya.andras

    triznya.andras Well-Known Member

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    Applies to both games I guess.
    Sometimes a bit misleading, though, for example the SP Cab Forward is a bit crazy, but it has nice reviews anyway.
    There are various physics quirks across the offered range of DLC, some can be fixed by adding some files from a community site in a way they take precedence. Brake systems are usually messy so climbing is generally nicer.

    TSW looks better out of the box but there are some 3rd party shaders and fixes to improve TS. During my time since 2015 I've observed good progress in the assets department (unfortunately route specific), but also the messing up of many settings (weather, shaders, sounds).

    Given the huge collection, and the presence of the editor and workshop, I'd still easily recommend to stick with TS as long as you're happy to fix things that annoy you and don't mind to either skip old content or accept that it's rather artistic than high fidelity.

    It would be a nice workaround to offer "complete my collection" deals across the two games. I'm not only refusing to buy anything TSW because of the backlog I already have, but also unwilling to buy the same trains and routes again.

    ---

    As for DLC policy, in my personal experience it's perfectly enough to buy one DLC per month or two. You may need an initial investment to get going, but it's all nice and dandy after that.
    Some 3rd parties are borderline malicious with cross referencing offerings in the name of realism, Cyclone could tell stories. DTG is fairly small with that, mostly it's just requiring a route for the scenarios - you can play the trains anywhere.
    (Of course, my dream is similar to the new Chatham - just merge up routes and locos, update scenarios to utilize all assets. The NEC is an extreme example of 4 routes, some 20 trains and possibly 6 scenario packs. But the point: no more NEC with nothing but an ALP-45DP.)
     
    Last edited: Dec 21, 2021
  14. Clumsy Pacer

    Clumsy Pacer Well-Known Member

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    Nwp1 is talking about (at most) 5 DLCs. The quality issues in TSW dlcs are way less severe than TS1.

    And TS1 doesn't have useless achievements involving you going really fast for trains that sound awful, point scoring and meaningless leaderboards?
     
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  15. TimeSlicedDanny

    TimeSlicedDanny Active Member

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    Pont scoring and leaderboards are not useless. Winning is everything and losing is nothing - even in a simulator!

    Take that away and all your left with is a partial simulation of train driving. What's the point of that as a recreational activity?

    Not that I'm competitive, but different people get different things from their simming.
     
    Last edited: Dec 21, 2021
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  16. 749006

    749006 Well-Known Member

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    That is the point.
    Enjoying driving the train over a route you may never see in real life.
    The satisfaction of getting from A to B and completing the required tasks - safely.

    When a real train driver takes his train from start to finish nobody says "here's a reward for doing your job"
    Maybe you should play one of those F1 games if you wish to speed around to get points
    And so you can say "you only got 90 point but I got 95 points" to your mates
     
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  17. TimeSlicedDanny

    TimeSlicedDanny Active Member

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    I don't think you can tell people how they should enjoy the product they've bought. It's not real life; it's ok to enjoy it any way you want. Play it straight, play it weird, both are valid.

    I like points and I like achievements. Take those away and it gives me less reason to buy DLC.
     
    Last edited: Dec 21, 2021
  18. Reef

    Reef Well-Known Member

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    Absolutely this.

    I wholeheartedly agree with Peters play style and that's what works for me, I'd never presume to tell anyone how to enjoy their gameplay just as long as they continue to enjoy it, the only time I'll recommend anyone to do it differently is if they come along and are getting frustrated or upset with continually trying and failing it one way and maybe they had just not thought of an alternative more relaxing way of enjoying the game.

    It may also be an age thing, I don't know..
     
  19. 749006

    749006 Well-Known Member

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    And I'm not telling you how to enjoy the game - I was pointing out why some people run the game.

    So far I don't think I have gained any points as I don't play Career Scenario.
    Each to their own.
     
  20. Veryfatbloke

    Veryfatbloke Member

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    I enjoy career scenarios but I turn the scoring off as I'm not interested in gathering points and stars.
     
  21. inversnecky

    inversnecky Well-Known Member

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    Personally, I've tended to play more standard scenarios (if there's an option). With the career ones, I find you can end up so focussed on the tool bar clock and speed, you lose sight of the fact you are driving a train, and it becomes an abstract computer game.

    Case in point, I have just done a career scenario for Suburban Glasgow - basically you have to slam the throttle to max when you leave the station, and put it onto brake step 2 or 3 at the last minute to stop at stations to hit the timetable. I got my gold star for doing it, but did it in any way give me a sense of driving a train in reality? Absolutely not. Which was one of the reasons I was a bit slow to start scenarios, preferring to learn a route and drive without the tool bar. Better to do it again and drive sensibly, and to hell with the points!

    Many of the scenarios assume line speed, as in real life, but this can be hard to judge with some of the speedos, so you have to go a little slower to avoid speeding accidentally. But so many of the scenarios require you to drive at line speed + 0.9 mph to have a hope of meeting the timetable for points, it keeps you focussed more on the toolbar than the train's dashboard itself.

    I forgot it might be possible to turn off scoring - must look for that option!
     
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