Time For Some New British Content

As a Brit, of course I would like to see more British content but, to be fair, Spirit of Steam came out shortly before TSW3 so it’s not that long that we had a new British route.

 

Yes but SoS was a bit of an odd man out, in so far as being a steam era route. You would have thought by now another more mainstream product would be imminent, though like Jpantera in the response on the previous page I would rather we have something from the BR blue era as SEHS extended looks after the modern fans.

 

Even for us modern fans SEHS was a pretty big let down as it offered nothing new in terms of rolling stock.

To have a Sprinter (Rivet's pathetic attempt of the 150 doesn't count) or a Pacer in TSW would be a dream come true for me. Even a 168 or 170 would be nice to have.

 

Your route suggestion is certainly one I'd buy. I'd like to see given the choice Paddington to Bristol or even Bristol - Didcot would love Cardiff to Didcot but DTG wouldn't do that. Also the Didcot coal run would be good for freight.

I still can't see why DTG could not ask on the forum what routes the public would like to see in certain area's. So DTG could say 'we are thinking of doing a UK route and have licences for a certain Loco and this covers these area's' Then people could give suggestions and DTG would get a feel what people want and so they make more sales and with the customers happy. Win/win no?

Same for the German and American routes. Surely as a company selling more DLC is better than selling less?

Or give us more Loco's for existing routes.

 

One line that would be amazing if properly implemented would be the Elizabeth Line, now that it is set to start running all the way through in around a month. It was way too big for TSW2 standards, but in TSW3 it would fit, it is around 80ish miles from Reading to Shenfield, a bit shorter than SWK.

While it would be another modern commuter line, it would be different from most of what we currently have (no electrostars, no third rail, and the gimmick of going underground and back to the surface, like in Rapid Transit), and they could pair it with a modernisation of the current GWE map and the addition of some branches like Heathrow, Greenford and maybe even Windsor Central if they can get permission (idk if it would depend only on GWR or someone else as the branch seems to run right behind Eton College and stops just outside the Castle itself).

 

With that though, you'd need to have new various trains and licenses, which just ain't gonna happen in TSW for one route.

For a realistic experience, you'll need:
Modern and fully upgraded Paddington to Reading line:
- GWR Class 387
- GWR Class 80X
- XR Class 345
- Class 66

Liverpool Street to Shenfield:
- XR Class 345
- GA Class 720/1
- GA Class 745/0
- GA/Stansted Express 745/1
- GA Class 320/321/322

 

The obsession with London and the Underground continues, eh?

As an outsider, I agree that a new modernish UK route is overdue. But it should be far away from the Capital, even distant from the South.

Wales, Scotland, the North of England?

One more London/Southern route and I'll have to contact the Leveling Up Department.

 

Excellent Ideas so far and why not get a TSC route that is popular and remade for TSW 3 which are WCML North Shap and South?

This should be going further than Shenfield like Ipswich since the GEML is a TSC route that has been requested to be in TSW 3. Liverpool St to Ipswich via Shenfield is 70 miles. Freight Class 90

 

I’d prefer we take a break from the Captial, UK is so much more than London and it’s about time TSW reflects that.

The Welsh Marches line, Shrewsbury - Newport with a TfW Class 158 or 175 would a be good pick. Brings both the West Midlands and Wales into the game, EWS 66 can layer in on any freight, it’s a popular route for rail tours so there’s opportunity for steam & diesel rail-tour services in the timetable.

Also an opportunity to add the Class 67 with Mk4 coaches as an additional loco DLC.

 

Personally I couldn’t think of anything more boring than the Elizabeth Line. Push to go/stop trains and as it would require a rework of GWE I would rather that effort went into pushing it out to Oxford and adding the branches. However I agree with the above, enough of London. Get out into the Midland shires or north, or Scotland/ Wales with some main line action over a scenic and challenging stretch of route.

 

Same here. I went on it in real life and there really isn’t a lot to see or do. Particularly the core sections, they’re extremely boring. It’s a glorified underground train.

As you said, it’s time DTG venture out of London and the South and explore other areas of the country.

 

Absolutely. I couldn’t think of anything worse than another Southern/London based commuter line. We’ve already got plenty of those for TSW as it is. There’s so many other areas, some of which are much more scenic and interesting, for DTG to explore.

 

I'm not too bothered about where the next UK DLC is based, only that there is a robust program of follow-up loco DLC and bug fixing to support it.

The goal should be for every route to have a supporting plan for any required loco DLC to fill out the timetable to eventually reach a state where it is more or less representative of real life - and that this should be delivered within 12 weeks of release, including major bug fixes.

Leaving empty space with nothing but good wishes and the hope that something will be produced to fill the gap later simply doesn't appear to be working as 9 times out of 10 the DLC doesn't appear.

Some thoughts:

London to Brighton: badly needs a Class 700 DLC to fill out services everywhere south of East Croydon (that could then have been layered into SEHS-extended). Should have had a follow-up patch to fix Reigate station scenery, nighttime light bleed into 377 cab, additional freight services to use the yards and Ardingly branch, some odd scenery details like the missing rails at Redhill.

Spirit of Steam: again, badly needs several loco DLC to fill out the empty-feeling world. The timetable needs a full going over to bring it up to Joe-standard as it's largely impossible to keep time, and I think it's pretty clear that the steam pressure simulation needs some work as well as the manual firing update and introduction of AI services - Crewe is a ghost town!

East Coastway: Unsure why even after the 313 this was left without Victoria-bound AI services - timetable could very much do with an update

Cathcart Circle: Some missing services in the daytime, very few AI services, no timetabled 6 car services, no follow-up DLC (eg. Class 380 or 385)

None of these problems seems insurmountable and some even appear very easy to fix but have just been ignored.

I'm not sure where the bottleneck in production is but I would be absolutely delighted if it could be eliminated. Perhaps we might see something of this in the roadmap on Thursday?

PS. There's an awful lot of really good work going on as well - please don't take this as a 'DTG are lazy' whinge as that's absolutely not the case - it's just there is a lot of low-hanging fruit that I would love to see collected - a bit of feedback from a dedicated player

 

Sooner or later folks will be requesting driverless routes..... No interaction required!

 

https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/automatic-train-operation.54501/

 

Agree with this post but the issue will be were do they draw the line on improving older routes. I don't think anything on your list other than SoS will get any extra DLC but would be nice to be proved wrong. Routes like NTP are massively empty as is Cathcart and Munich Augsburg of the German selection.

 

In the end may as well just watch a YouTube video from the cab in 4k on the TV same interaction.

 

As a bit of a curveball, I'd actually be really interested to see a shorter steam route for less cash as a bit of an experiment and development platform. Something akin to the Malmesbury branch from TSC (think maybe 5 to 15 miles long max), with a nice little exploration element and a deeper, maybe more interactive dive into the workings of a quiet steam branch line with a Pannier tank or similar small tank engine.

Use the interactive elements of the Unreal engine to have stuff like loading milk churns or parcels into a brake or luggage van, lighting up (in accelerated time), disposing of the ashes, lubricating pistons etc. Timetable mode would include the typical 1-2 coach services mixed in with pickup / dropoff freight shunting, perhaps a permanent way service and other general steam-era railway tasks. Really lean into the atmospheric side of steam operation.

It could be used to iron out some of the issues with steam physics and firing at the moment too, and whatever locomotive was used could then be reused or layered into a later, larger steam route.

(In fact I think this would have been a much more controlled way to introduce steam to TSW in the first instance - the scope of SoS seemed like rather a lot to bite off at once)

 

Whatever happens they need to make routes that have an X factor tbh, high speed stuff is fine but even those after a while can be repetitive. People crying out for the modern WCML would find it quite empty. To make it realistic needs many types of trains of which none exist in TSW. My Glasgow Edinburgh suggestion could be done rolling stock wise very quickly if older tsw stock could be used. For BR routes we now have an 08, 20, 31, 33, 37, 40, 45, 47 and 52 all done. Would have been nice if the German style of routes and stock utilisation could have been done. Instead we have various electrostar flavours for the UK...

 

I did think along similar lines with the Fairford branch. Not particularly scenic but a GWR icon particularly in 1970's railway modelling circles!
Another good one would be the Maerdy branch, also from TSC.
For the North East, the branches either to Alston or Allendale off the Newcastle to Carlisle route.

 

And they all taste as bad as each other, that is if you can tell the difference between them as well.

Would love to see these wonderful locos plus more (25s,55s,56s etc) in future BR blue routes. There is so much potential.

 

To make it better Have the Ore services 377/4 377/1 drivable to Lewes where you wait for a Seaford service then given to AI then Reappear at Wivelsfield on BML.

 

I can't help but feel that UK content has been lackluster this year. No UK routes for the first half of 2022 and when Spirit of Steam finally came out, it wasn't the best release and there are still plenty of bugs present, not to mention Steam not being everyone's cup of tea.

Rivet released The Island Line with the Class 484 the next month and while it was a substantial improvement over the old route, its not exactly new content. Yes the 484 was brand new (with a fictional livery) but its still the same driving experience with only 7 miles of track and with even less services.

Then of course we had SEHS 2.0 Electric Boogaloo, which added a 40 mile extension to Ashford International. Sounds like a lot except it really isn't when you're going at high speed with next to nothing to look at in terms of scenery. The new timetable is fantastic for sure but it's still the same old route with the same old problems, HS1 is still a snoozefest with poor scenery, the incline at Stratford is still non existent and Hoo Junction is completely wrong.

Personally speaking I would like to get away from high speed and busy commuter routes for a while in favour of something more rural and scenic like a nice journey along the coast down the Riviera Line or West Higland Line. But if the next route is a modern commuter line let's hope its not third rail again!

I hearby banish DTG from making routes featuring third rail for a least a year.

 

I agree Mikey_9835

It’s time to move away from the whole ‘High Speed/Rush Hour Commuter’ theme and give us something different instead.

Give us something which isn’t an Electrostar, features flat and dull Southern countryside and station stops every couple of minutes. In other words, give us a nice, scenic regional looking route. There are plenty to choose from!

Some of my suggestions would be:
- Hope Valley Line (Sheffield to Manchester)
- Crewe to Holyhead
- Welsh Marshes Line (Cardiff to Hereford)
- Dundee to Aberdeen
- Edinburgh to Dundee
- Riviera Line (Exeter to Paignton)
…and so many more!

Just not another snooze fest of a third rail commuter line for a while please!

 

I did the Bromsgrove - Redditch - New Street line both in steam and a modern version, albeit in Train Sim, enjoyable to drive and create.

 

Hopefully we'll get a new UK route just before Christmas. Maybe it'll be whatever JT are working on..

 

I had a go on BML last night and gave up at Gatwick I was so bored driving the 387. Back into TSC thrashing a 37 from Fort William towards Mallaig. I mean yes, kudos to Joe’s timetable which is great when it doesn’t get dog knotted but not only are you driving only Electrostars, every AI train is one too. It wouldn’t have been quite so bad set in the slammer era with CIGs/BIGs on the fasts, VEPs on the semis, various EPBs and HAPs on the suburban services, a smattering of Thumpers on and off the Oxted lines. Oh and 73’s on the Gatwicks, 33’s on various freight workings.

I will grant that BML looks better in TSW3, but that doesn’t redeem the repetitive boring nature of the whole experience.

 

I see a definite pattern of behaviour!

 

Yeah, I feel like it offers quite a lot of variety and scope for real expansion. The route itself runs from built-up city centre, through quite distinctive changes in surroundings, out to rolling countryside and offers two destinations in Bromsgrove or the Redditch branch. While it could be supplied with the EMUs which run on both routes, there could easily then be an extension DLC using the DMUs to extend the route to Worcester or beyond, adding in extra diesel services to run beyond the end of the electrified section to Bromsgrove, without affecting any of the original services. It's a win-win. Or a win-win-win if you also include the freight services that use it, with the extra challenge of them running up the Lickey Incline. And some of the trains are purple, which can only be a good thing!

 

What would be great is a closed shop route one which the trains in the main start and finish within the map. Brighton mainline to a point does that, but with one handled modern stock. One reason I harp on about Glasgow Edinburgh in the eighties is that many engines and stock stayed on the route all day. Engines would come off Eastfield and hook up to a Mk3 set in Cowlairs then shunt out on to the mainline down the hill into Glasgow Queen Street to start the day's work. It gives a bit more depth to the operations than just feed in and out at one end and the other. Similar could be done with freight from Grangemouth to Bishopbriggs as it could be on the whole map.

I like the peninsula corridor route as its self contained although the locos and stock stay stuck together. TSW strength apart from graphics is operating practice which could be exploited more on future route builds.

 

Completely agree with that! I'd add as well Peninsula Corridor has a good variety of power available, you have pretty much all the major stuff you'd see in day to day operation there before electrification. Out of the US routes it's the only ones which I feel doesn't have some massive hole in its lineup of locos and stock. It isn't 100% complete, but I can't say I'm crying in my sleep that we never got the F40PH-2 or the -2C for it. Honestly I think the current lineup pretty well covers all the major beats the route needed to cover, that's not something many other routes can say.

I think pretty much every US passenger route is lacking at least one major locomotive type from their schedules. the Acela and P32 come to mind for example. And while yes for modern freight ops you can get by with a singular modern six axle GE/EMD and a SD40-2 and/or a GP38-2, it's hardly complete. Stuff like the SD70M and the Altoona rebuilds would be great to have, as well as that GP40-2 that DTG seem to have put in the dustbin of history.

 

PC is a great route once you have the Baby Bullet and MP15 too - you get two passenger trains which are really different to drive, plus their cab cars, UP freight and some of the switcher services and scenarios are quite varied. It's a shame more of the routes don't have all that.

 

I agree with that, even in modern days the BML could be a lot more interesting and one of the most "complete" routes, if the class 700 was released for it, as much as I dislike them. I would haved loved to see it set in the slam door era but that era apparently isn't so interesting.

I have uninstalled TSW for now, until a) a route is released which interests me or b) a couple of DLC's are released for SOS to actually make it feel like a major steam era route not some back water line in the shires! I haven't even purchased TSW3 yet.

I spend all my simming time in TSC currently.

 

Y'all keep forgetting about Northern Ireland.

 

All recycling basically the same locos we already have. The only "new" one is the ACS-64, and even that is a return from the old NEC NY.

 

I wouldn't be so quick as some others to immediately dismiss anything that's modern and based around commuter/ rush hour theming. The two most common route suggestions I see on here are WCML South and/or ECML South, so clearly lots of people want it, myself included. I think it would be more appropriate to say I don't want anything south of the Thames for a while.

I can't join in with the chorus of people wanting a more rural route. I'm not someone who gets excited over scenery, so commuter routes with lots of stations suit me better. I definitely think it's time to explore other urban areas though, a Manchester to Liverpool route would be great for example.

If they want to do part of the WCML or ECML without it being near London, I think my ideal picks would be the WCML over Shap set in the early 2000s (to satisfy both modern and classic traction fans, during a period of transition), or Peterborough to York set around 2019. I know lots seem to suggest Newcastle to York but I've no idea why. I know it was in TSC but it's such a dull route in real life. Peterborough to York is better, with a few more points of interest such as Doncaster and the flat crossing at Newark, as well as Colton Junction which iirc is the only junction in the UK that is regularly traversed at 125mph. Oh and of course it would include Stoke Bank, the site of many speed records throughout history. There could also be an extension to Leeds if DTG fancy it.

 

This is definitely the best section of the ECML and, like you say, has lots of interesting landmarks on it and would happily take it in any era to be honest as it is the section of track I know best as I have grown up and lived along it all my life so have fond memories of all the rolling stock and liveries from deltics to Azumas.

 

I am not the biggest fan of modern routes but would buy them if I thought they would offer some decent challenge. Not many seem to be noting my point that a WCML route could require masses of rolling stock types set in any era. We have no AC electric only rolling stock in TSW as its stands so a current day would require a 390 and a 350 for starters. That's without a 221 or freight loco for AC (Compromise would be available as a EWS or DB only 66) That's one seriously empty route. Look at GWML without the Heathrow stuff and most of the mainline T/T trimmed down. Some of us here are suggesting older routes because there is a large deck of rolling stock already, very limited Licensing hoops and an appetite for it as well as the modern stuff.

 

I am finding the same, though I haven't uninstalled TSW3 (yet). Even the German routes seem better in TSC, more interesting variety and longer too. As said ad infinitum, if only TSC had a timetable mode I could live without all the walking around faff, so long as you could jump to the next train.

 

Considering the build-up, fanfare and hoopla which preceded and accompanied the launch of SOS back in May, it's surprising and very disappointing that DTG haven't followed up or built on this route, or, indeed, steam traction in general.

Liverpool-Crewe seems to have become something of a " one-off " , not to be repeated or augmented.

I hope I'm speaking too soon, otherwise a sad situation.

 

I fear it has rapidly become another fire and forget title...

There isn't even an indication the known bugs and issues are being worked on such as the game ending SPAD's, known about since release in TSW2, let alone additional content or another steam era route,

 

From what I've seen of it, there's still quite a bit of work to be done to get the existing stuff up to scratch before they think about adding anything else.

 

I feel like this is an appropriate place to say somthing like this, but want to make an interesting observation I made regarding the release of today's loco bundle.

Thanks of the Rail Head Treatment Trains, we now have KFA wagons in Train Sim World, which could actually be repurposed for a variety of different tasks.

The most obvious being for carry containers on intermodal traffic, depending on whether we ever get another modern UK route that has intermodal traffic running on it (like a West Coast or Great Eastern Main Lines, a South Wales Coastal, anything involving Southampton Dockyard, or even something like an expanded Great Western Express. Never rule anything out I say).

But that's not the only way you could repurpose the KFA wagons. They've also carried Gypsum containers in the past, like what was seen out of Southampton beofre being replaced by JNA's. But the most interesting possible repurposing is on something like this:

Image Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/r-t-c/14450644481

Yep, for carrying logs. One possible route that this variant runs on is Shrewsbury-Chester, as part of services heading from Chirk to Carlisle. I know that these also quite prevelant up in Scotland. But many of these services are operated by Colas Rail, which I'm not entirely sure if DTG has the licensing for that, but who know's with that.

Just something to keep in mind, as it's interesting to see the opportunties that adding the KFA wagons that come with the RHTT's open up.

 

I agree Newcastle to Carlisle would be good.

I do this a lot and don't play TSW very much at all now. I like the old steam video's.

Not all mate, I have said that I find it weird DTG call all the English routes the UK and the one in scotland is apparently scottish. I'm not familiar with N. Ireland trains but would look to buy a route if they made one and also not forgetting Wales. DTG like to ram down our throats that they will not make any routes in differing countries but when they have the opportunity to introduce two more countries to make UK routes representative in game they still do not want to know.

This seems to be the story with so many routes, they are just empty for the most part, why they cannot flush out the routes seems like a missed opportunity to me and a waste. The SOS route is just not 'authentic' to me.

 

I love Bristol - Exeter in TS(RW). Wanna see it in TSW with HST.

 

Well hopefully we'll hear about a new British route in the roadmap, surely one is in the works.

 

Hopefully they will announce something more than just 'UK route in development'.
Life is tough at moment for all, be nice to have something to look forward to even if it's ages away.

 

What I would love to see is a TSW version of the TSC route "Woodhead in Blue". It deviates from the regular categories of modern electric vs older diesel, and focusses on the early days of electric rail. The trains feel shabby but powerful. It still has manual resistor selecetion. Upon driving, one has to manage the setup (series or parallel) and go through all resistors to speed up. But one has to be very careful not to overload, because then a reset is needed and one has to go through all the resistors again. But if one stays too long with a resistor, it might burn out as well. It is a different way of driving that would be fun to have.

 

I think most of us just want something other than another modern Southern third rail commuter train and route again..

 

Good news, according to today's roadmap, we are getting new a UK route. Looking at the code for it [3.GBB-R7 02], it appears to be a modern Diesel Hydraulic/Electric AC route. Hopefully, we will find out what it is soon.

Full roadmap here: https://live.dovetailgames.com/live/train-sim-world/articles/article/tsw-roadmap-6th-october-2022