Train Sim World 3: The Holiday Express – Runaway Elf Add-on is out now! Gather the family round the screen, fire up the miniature F7 and get ready to undo the mischief caused by the naughty elf. It’s time to save Christmas! Richie Rails to the rescue! Discover out article on this festive heart-warming route!
Hello. I have a question: I thought I saw that there were 7 scenarios? how much time is spent playing? no time mode I guess? A free world too to explore ? Thanks
No timetable or training mode, 70 minutes to complete the scenarios, ≈30 minutes to collect the coins (without a guide) for the achievement, plus about 90 minutes to complete the mastery (if you want to drive toy cars)
You can always do the scenarios again or drive the train after spawning on foot. After all, a timetable is driving the same trains on the same route over and over.
Love it, for only 10€ it's a bargain, really enjoyed it. Best of all, I haven't encountered a single Bug. The only thing I might complain about is that there is no Way to Spawn long Trains in Scenario Planner, so no ICE and 101
It's actually (surprisingly) on sale on Steam now for €8. I will definitely pick it up for that price. Cheers
Perhaps there should be a community guide on how to do the coins I'll simply pass this for another route if on sale
I've only had one weird bug, where somehow I put the reverse in neutral and the throttle to 1 which somehow locked up the controls and had to restart.
So one interesting thing about this DLC is the trains located on some of the media scattered around the room. Don't know anything about the British Stuff, but Ill make note of the 2 US locos that show up, both from the Pennsylvania Railroad. 1st up is this, which is a picture of PRR #4935, a GG1 that's preserved at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. Its also considered the best preserved GG1. The other is a photo of PRR #3750, one of 2 preserved PRR K4 Class steam locomotives, also located at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. (Though on outside display). The K4 was the 2nd toy loco from the TSC version of the Holiday Express. Not saying someone has plans for any PRR stuff, but it is interesting to note both trains were real photos and branded, and not altered or generic in any way, shape, or form....
Even though this is a lot of speculation, could these two locos be realistically used on one route, or do they not match time or location wise? The GG1 is one of my biggest wishes for TSW by the way.
-The K4 Could somewhat be used on Horseshoe Curve, but its way out of era. The last time a K4 was there was I think 1987 for an excursion. (Back when Conrail still owned the line.) -The GG1 currently has no route to run. NEC:NY was abandoned and BS wasn't Pennsy territory or electrified back in the day.
I suspect that pre-1960 US content, like all potential steam content, is waiting on DTG getting their steam physics sorted; then I daresay we will see a rush of older stuff.
You are probably right and I would not be surprised if the next steam content is already long decided on and waiting for the physics updates.
I bought this on PS5 (ta for the 20% discount chaps and chapesses) and I really enjoyed it! I'd like to think that my post over in the suggestion thread about entirely fictional routes was in some way an inspiration for it, and I'd love more! It's fantastic seeing the care and love poured into this add-on with all the little features and easter eggs (though the "rhyming" couplets were a bit of a stretch at times...) One thing that amused me were the names assigned to the controls ("all effort gone" on the brakes) and the "big chair". One thing I was pleasantly surprised by was the texture quality on the assets. Check out the detail on the wooden floor! I had wondered if being that close (relatively) to the ground and all the super-sized objects would affect this, but I didn't come across a single thing that looked like it had just been mega zoomed. My only slight niggles were that the rail base looked a touch of place; back in my youth if a train set was set up on the floor it would have just been the bare rail rather than a supporting base (though I believe the rail was just the generic one used in all add-ons so understandable). The other was that some of the walking was a touch long, I would have liked the jeep to be useable in the scenarios instead of having ot unlock via mastery. Ramping off the coffee table to the armchair during the gingerbread house collection would have been fun! First DLC I've purchased on day one and throughly recommend it for a bit of Christmas fun, please pass on my thanks and best wishes to to the team DTG JD Have a good xmas and new year folks
Interestingly, this seems to have been intentionally set in the mid-80s (childhood for DTG staff?), what with the Nintendo game system hooked to a CRT telly and the 1987 rail annuals. More unexpected is that this seems to be set in America; not only is the F7 a US loco, but we also have the said rail annuals featuring pics of PRR locomotives; "Richie Rail" being a takeoff on the very American Lionel as opposed to Hornby; and then a baseball and baseball bat- not things one would expect to find in a British household.
I could see the GG1 being used on a late Pennsylvania Railroad early Penn Central or early Amtrak electric route, since that would be the 60s to the 70s. Only thing is would DTG put up the historical research to make such a route.
I'm really enjoying this DLC. Couple of things I noticed that DTG may have been testing out on this route. Working elevators, vehicles you can drive and they've added a depth of field blur. I'm on console and haven't noticed this on other routes. Would be a great addition to current/new routes. This would be one step closer to the photomode I've been begging for.
...yes, a photo mode would be great, could be included in the next big summer update. I can recommend Gran Turismo7 as a basis for comparison for Playstation players. In addition to the full setting options of a reflex camera, you also have the option of adding post-effects afterwards. Actually, there is already a photo mode that is linked to DTL, but the depth of field effects, as shown by HDX, are the icing on the cake. Since yesterday evening I've only had time to try out HDX for the first time and I'm thrilled. Alex didn't promise too much during Tuesday's live stream. I even managed to couple a BR204 with the new n-wagons and do a lap around the Christmas tree. Is just fun. I think the light baking method was used for the many light sources in the living room, otherwise it would have been a bumpy Christmas.
Depth of field blur would be great option for a photo mode or movie mode but not suitable for general gameplay. It’s the only really negative thing I find with this DLC. I’d like to be able to see the whole room properly from all distances. That’s very important on normal routes too, being able to see distant scenery properly.
Interesting point particularly about the lifts. Now they’ve tested it on a “fun” route, wouldn’t it be great if they could apply a patch to, say, the BCC route to see if they are feasible in the main game? If this is possible, I would imagine that a patch that doesn’t involve the main mechanics of driving the train could be implemented without risking playability.
I'm personally enjoying the DLC for the price and to be honest it's really good! I've encountered a few bugs but nothing game breaking or to out of the ordinary.. in the last roadmap stream Matt had mentioned and even Adam said in the holiday preview stream with Alex, a lot of features that they want to bring into train Sim world 3. One of them specifically being drivable vehicles which the boundaries that currently stopped them from implementing that at the moment is Collision blocking/ invisible walls throughout the routes which they would have to figure a way around that. The DLC is basically a sandbox would dovetail will be able to play and test out a lot of tools here all at once. I honestly didn't think I would like this and being that it doesn't take any time away from making the actual routes itself there's nothing but a bunch of positives from me and I would highly recommend! The scenarios are not too long and even though there's no guide I'd like to feel like someone's not holding my hand while I enjoy searching around the room for the collectibles. At some point I'm almost feeling like I'm playing Toy Story But for trains LOL and I'm curious to see what dovetail has planned for future holiday events, perhaps spring or summer be in a different location in or outside the house? Or maybe something like a backyard you see and grounded haha the possibilities are endless and they already stressed they're going to push to the Limit! I wish dovetail happy holidays and a big thank you as well as a big happy holidays to the community I hope you all have fun and stay safe out there cheers!
...if depth of field on regular routes, then only in photo mode. Clear that such a post-effect otherwise affects the frame rate. In a photo mode, the gameplay would be frozen so you can focus on the capture and settings without hassle. I think the depth of field fits quite well in this Christmas mini game, since you are acting from the point of view of a very small toy figure. In order to best represent the miniature effect, depth of field is often used, which can be seen in photos of model railways. Because a normal camera lens does not shrink, the depth of field effect occurs automatically, when you focus on a small figure or miniature.
Some of you may be thinking, "Gee, I sure do love Train Sim World 3: The Holiday Express - Runaway Elf. I just wish that the toy rolling stock that comes with the add-on would substitute onto the Oakville Subdivision!" I don't know why you'd be thinking that, but guess what? The rolling stock substitutes onto the Oakville Subdivision. Feel free to celebrate very loudly and excitedly.
DTG Alex I made a scenario on this route for creators club but it makes you drive the train backwards. If you do check this scenario the map shows it wants you to go backwards. https://creatorsclub.dovetailgames.com/mods/68191
