Hi guys. Are you a fan of simulation games? If yes, then what other games do you play besides TS? Let’s make this thread a section to talk about simulation, shall we?
I only recently converted to simulation games, having played RPGs almost exclusively since acquiring my first PC late 1989. Well, I did attempt to play the original Microsoft Train Simulator back in the day. My then-PC could run it only on low graphic settings, and even then performance left much to be desired. It was quickly abandoned. I was drawn back into the world of railroad/train simulation after acquiring the game Transport Fever, the first one, but its successor. It's not a simulator, more your typical economics/empire builder cloaked in a railroad-centric wrapper. I early on realized its economics aspects didn't interest me, so disabled them and spent my time landscaping / detailing my various railway lines, then riding trains along those lines. This eventually rekindled a desire to actually drive trains rather than merely ride passively in them. My first foray into train/railroad simulation was Trainz 2019. I enjoyed it. I might have been content staying there, had not the vast majority of 'sessions' I most enjoy driving developed glitches that kept them from being completed. This led me to seek alternatives. The first of these was TSW, in its initial iteration. I played it all of maybe two hours before realizing it simply isn't for me. Short routes/scenarios and, worst of all, no steam. The latter was a lease-breaker for me, as by that point I had all but abandoned non-steam railroading. Later, learning that promised TSW steam presence would be much delayed, I uninstalled it and never looked back. That's when I gave TS2021 a try, and have been a content, if sometimes frustrated, fan sense. I continue to occasionally play Trainz, which I feel is in some aspect the better of the two. I even bought another route for it not long ago, VR Healesville, 1913-1920. I already own the first Healesville and like it well enough, except its graphics are rather dated. New Healesville sports all Trainz recent graphics bells and whistles. Scenery/landscape looks amazingly good, in ways TS20xx can't equal, imo. It's the ground textures and grasses, I think. Despite that, TS20xx remains my railway-addiction drug-of-choice and is likely to remain so for some time to come. That said, the game Railroads Online looks tempting, a huge draw for me being that it is and will likely remain a steam-train only game. I don't see it 'replacing' TS20xx, but it might well one day supplement it. We shall see.
As my PC is pretty much the worst machine in my house (TS runs okish) I use my Xbox series S and on that I mainly play titles like Sea of Thieves and Star Wars Battlefront 2. I also play Fallout 4, Hitman 3, Cities skylines and I occasionally dabble into Halo Infinite. Oh and I play a lot of Jurassic World Evolution 2. When it comes to simulators I play TSW and have tried Diesel Railcar Simulator. I’ve also put 50-60 hours in Farming simulator 19 and have put 11 hours into MSFS 2020.
For sims, when I'm not playing Train Simulator, I'm more often than not hot lapping in rFactor 2. Much like TS it has its issues, but it's so much fun to play, and it has a vast plethora of mods/third party content!
Other than TS22 and TSW2, I play a variety of games. I loved the Uncharted games on PS, played GTA V and GTA Online a lot and have played several choice based games such as Life is Strange and Detroit: Become Human. I also recently got back into Gran Turismo upon release of GT7 but the enjoyment factor soon waned when PD changed the balance of things and made it harder to progress through events etc (some are almost impossible to complete with the given vehicle and timings). I used to play flight sim 2004 but now having no disc drive means I can't install it again.
Games I love include anything GTA, RDR1/2, Flight SIM (need a Series X to play this) & Astros Play room
My other games... (In no certain order), Company of Heroes 2 (RTS), GTA V, Wargame: Red Dragon (RTS), American Truck Simulator, Euro Truck Simulator 2, theHunter: Call of the Wild, Warhammer 40K: Gladius - Relics of War, Steel Division: Normandy 44 (RTS), Steel Division 2 (RTS), MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, Insurgency (FPS) & WARNO (RTS). I used to play MMORPG's (Warhammer: Age of Reckoning, Lord of the Rings Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic & World of Warcraft) years ago but mainly now simulators, war & strategy games. The truck games & GTA V did give me release during the pandemic lockdowns of 2020 & '21, not being able to drive the car. American Truck Simulator. Euro Truck Simulator 2.
Guitar... should pick it up more often though. X-Plane 11 - Zibo 737 greatly enjoy that - so much to learn! Run8 V3 - For real american railroading and processing local industries / sharing the work in multiplayer Zusi 3 - for correct PZB and other safety systems simulation
Lately, I've been really into playing the Dark Souls series of games. Incredible atmosphere and level design, though the game is really difficult. I strongly recommend playing it to all fans of hardcore!
ETS2, ATS & DRS. I also own Run8 and IL2 Sturmovik Great Battles (all parts). But haven't played either for quite some time. GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2, not installed since early 2021.
