It’s a completely separate program. There is no compatibility between the two products. Still worth a look though. It may be over 10 years old, but it’s still pretty good fun.
TSW Pros; Good Graphics Console support TSW cons: No editor No steam trains (though this is in development) Routes can be notoriously unstable and buggy TS pros: Lots more Content Route Builder Steam Locos Longer Routes TS Cons: Game was released over 10 years ago Editor can be hard to use Poor Graphics Over £10000 worth of DLC
Some TS1 routes are equally if not more buggy then TSW routes and Im talking about long-standing never to be fixed gameplay breaking.
The bright side is that, depending on the exact issue, you may be able to fix the bug with the editor
Surely the amount of DLC on TS is a pro, not a con. You’re not supposed to buy everything. The choice is excellent though.
TSW gives you a comprehensive timetable for the whole day, whereas TS routes get a handful of scenarios.
TS also has lots of routes and scenarios on the Steam workshop. I find TS's huge amount of DLC wonderful. Lots of choices for everybody. There are also a lot of third party reskins, routes, and models out there for free and to buy ( some much better than what's on the steam store) I personally have a lot more fun playing TS (as long as you can avoid the "out of memory" error
It is certainly a con. Unless you are planning to only play with DTG DLC, you'll need to be spending a significant amount of money to get seemingly simple things to work properly. DPSimulation's Birmingham Cross City route costs around £60 in DLC, and then you need a discontinued asset pack that needs another purchase to get. Unfortunately, this is one of the better cases... A disappointingly large amount of 'freeware' content for Train Simulator actually needs DLC valued at hundreds of Pounds. I feel sorry for anybody who is just getting into Train Simulator. I've been at it since 2013 and many scenarios and routes are completely out of reach for me, despite owning over a third of all Steam-released DLC.
I agree with you Doomotron about workshop scenarios, routes etc. A lot of freeware developers use many sources and assets so it never really is freeware. I've only been playing TS about a year and have spent a lot more than I should have just to get routes I want to play on (although I don't mind buying AP items on sale to enhance the sounds etc). It's an absolute minefield trying to find things like reskins or locos that the workshop creators/freeware makers use. I've still got reskins etc missing because they are either no longer available or have been updated to that the scenarios using the older ones can't use the newer ones (until the creator updates the route/scenario).
Arguably the amount of content for TS is both its biggest advantage and most catastrophic downfall. It's great for people who can afford it, and terrible for everybody else.
I have to disagree, there are loads of freeware routes that do not require payware DLC. Of course you must spend the time tracking down the asset from various sites. It can not be considered a “con” either for the workshop since the author utilized the asset they had available, it was their choice what to include or not, There are several authors that try to minimize what payware asserts are needed, other do not. All in the workshop put up their labors for free and there are programs like TS tools where you can modify routes and scenarios by swapping out assets you do not have for those you do.
I second Leadcatcher. If you take the time to learn to use TStools, there is almost no limit to what you can do with your existing DLC.
