Hi All As user name says I'm a newbie although I did dabble with Train Simulator a few years back. Wanted to give it another go preferably via console rather than PC. So wanted to know whether there was any difference or advantage/disadvantage between PS4/5 and Xbox? I will be buying one or the other. Also, is the route builder facility available in TSW3 which either console is used? Thanks
No route builder on any platform even PC, that’s just TSW. Choosing between the two premium consoles I would definitely advise the Xbox Series X. The PS5 has its good points (controller?) but significantly lags behind in performance for reasons unknown. Again that’s just TSW, the PS5 is otherwise a good machine.
I have both. I prefer XBox as if you buy the XBox version you can play on PC as well. Another benefit of the XBox is no 64Gb limit. This is being worked on for TSW3 on PS5 but who knows when it will arrive. The downside of XBox is that there are rarely any sales. Can’t say I’ve noticed much of a performance difference, but I rarely play on PS5 anymore. As said above there is no route builder. Just a basic scenario planner.
You don’t notice the difference on some routes as the fps is capped at 60, but in busier areas the Series X has sometimes nearly twice the fps comparing like for like.
Ps5 still has the 64gb dl limit which is coming out soon. Ps4, xbox 1 don't have great performance, you don't get layers on it, etc. Xbox series had sound issues which got fixed a while ago but still seems to have weird audio effects. It has decent performance and looks good. All consoles are prone to crashing on some of the routes. I'm a pc player so I don't know the full experience other than what people have reported in the forums
PS5 currently has an issue where only 64gb of DLC can be installed at a time. That will matter if you plan to buy a ton of DLC (most are 3-9gb depending on route). On the positive side that’s supposed to be fixed any day now (they released the fix for TSW2 a few weeks back and are now implementing it on TSW3). PlayStation has more DLC sales so that can save you a lot of money. Other than that you won’t notice any difference. As for the older consoles, I haven’t played on XB1 or PS4 so I can’t comment too much other than I know they are sort of reaching their limit as far as the experience is concerned, graphics and amount of AI services is greatly reduced. Im a little confused on your question because I’m assuming you don’t own all 4 consoles (XB1, PS4, PS5 and Series X). Are you also deciding which one to buy? I am on PS5 because I had probably thousands of $$ in games and DLC on PS4 that I can still use on PS5. If I was starting from scratch though I might go with Xbox because of the game pass system which seems neat. Specifically for TSW I don’t think it matters much though.
Apparently, from what I hear on this forum, on PS5 you cannot store individual DLCs on an external drive when not in use to save redownloading them the way you can on XBox. This may influence your decision if your internet connection is not particularly fast.
In my experience, Xbox players generally have a slightly better time than Playstation players (at least based on this forum), but that doen's mean they aren't without issues... If only I could remember what they were...
Tsw3 on playstation 5 plays horrible at the moment needs optimisation. I have posted several threads on this topic. Im back to tsw2 at the moment i find it a very smooth experience with only a slight stutter here and there. But tsw3 lots of stutter. Trains going by stutter. Walking around a station stutter. And i don't know why but it looks horrible at times like when scenery goes by it looks like a cartoon.
The very best thing you could do is forget about consoles for TSW and get a good PC. I feel slightly dirty saying this as a PS5 player but it really does seem to me to be the best advice as PC players (Steam only, steer well clear of the Epic store) have the best experience by far judging by reading the forum for several years. TSW is a PC game that is often poorly adapted for consoles and both PS and Xbox players have seen big nightmares on a regular basis.
Your choice is easy if money is your top concern. Just forget about Xbox. All the other platforms have far more and better sales. What you will get with Xbox is a game for both console and PC in one and even the ability to stream the game if you have Game Pass Ultimate. It's also far easier to handle individual DLC on Xbox compared to Playstation which is highly relevant to this game.
I agree, based on my own reading of the forums, but, unfortunately, "a good PC " will set you back several times the cost of a 9th generation console, putting it out of reach for many, particularly younger players. For instance, my own rig, which a year ago was a very high end machine, but a year later is just very good, cost me at least 5 times the price of a console. And PC's, perhaps more than consoles, age very rapidly these days. Having made the decision to release TSW for console almost 5 years ago, DTG still has an obligation to optimize and maximize the experience for what has become 2/3 of its player base. The company might be second guessing that decision, given all the headaches they have to deal with, but it's too late now. ( Besides, without console players, the game and, especially the forum, would be a very dull experience indeed ).
I’ve played the ps5 version and seen the series X version in person. There is barely any noticeable difference. Not entirely sure how some are seeing noticeable differences tbh, I’d expect it’s more to do with the displays and settings, resolutions and set ups they’re using.
If you’ve only « seen » it and not sat down and spent countless hours on different routes on each console, it is normal not to perceive any noticeable difference with a cursory viewing. As has been mentioned quite a few times here, the performance difference (fps) only really shows itself in dense areas of scenery, especially when there are many trains in proximity. Any declaration of performance difference on my part has been made comparing like for like, down to the same time of day, weather, DLC layers etc.
So if we both have a playstation 5 why is one better than the other. Im not making this up tsw3 is just not nice to play on ps5 and yet people are saying they have no problems.
The way I see it, choosing which console on which to play TSW is a trade-off. On the one hand very good performance on the Series X but with bad audio (popping and clicking). Overall fairish performance on the PS5 without the audio issues.
Just a decent comparable graphics card for that PC will set you back twice the cost of a Series X/PS5. My laptop can match Series X on performance on most games at 1440p, and it cost me a grand. And that's for a card that's been out a few years, not even looking at the astronomical prices of the latest generation graphics cards, where the graphics card alone is larger than the entire Series S console!