Dovetail Games What Marks A Route As Completed For You?

For me personally it's once I've completed all the missions because those are actually unique from timetable mode, and have driven the entirety of the route. Things like collectables and achievements don't count for me as they can sometimes be too lengthy/arduous to get for each individual route. (A bonus is reaching around route level 10 in the loco and route as by that point I'm usually familiar with the content.)

 

For me in general, it's normally to try and complete as many or all of the timetabled services as possible - these are done in no specific order, just what I fancy doing at the time; although I do try and only play day services in the day and nighttime services actually at night for better immersion.

However, saying that though - regarding the 'something else' option - if a route is fantastic anyway, whether due to its excellent timetable and/or interesting route/scenery or loco DLC etc, then probably said route would never technically be complete, even if I finished all the timetabled services because I would still play the route regardless by replaying some of the most interesting services. Plus, now with the excellent Free Roam feature - although which really needs passenger loading/unloading implemented - it gives a lot of older routes a new lease of life with more of our existing loco DLC.

 

Complete a route? Like it is a game level? I don't play it like that. I'm trying to become better at driving the trains. Getting to know the route better and better, turning down the help from all the displays. For me it is more like playing golf, it is a constant hunt for becoming better.
I don't care completing collectiable, finding them enjoyable though.
I don't care for completing the timetables, because I like to drive in the morning or evening (blue hour ftw)
I see scenarious as training for using the timetable, so I like to complete them or go back to them, when I need help with something.

 

Once I have sufficient route knowledge to be able to competently run a service without the HUD.

You did ask..

Edit-
A few more thoughts-
1) The question itself assumes that there is a state of completeness that is achievable. Its a railway timetable. You can do all the services, fix all the fences, stick all the posters up etc etc, but you can still carry on doing services as though conducting a shift. In that sense there is no story to complete, the job is never ending as long as the timetable runs, and complete is just a state of mind.
2) The other interpretation is that the route is complete when it has all the features and fixes that were promised, but we'll leave that one alone for now as Im sure thats not what you meant.
3) Complete is probably when its not been fired up for a few months and whenever the thought arises to play it, the response is indifference, irritation or boredom (WSR, NTP, looking at you).

Anyway, for me a route is never complete, and Ive never viewed them through that optic.

 

It depends on the route. A really slow and boring route would be complete once I get bored. Wsr for example i have about 14 more services but I've not played it in a while. I think the route looks great and I could technically cheat and run single loco, break the speed limit and ignore all objectives but you still end up waiting 30 minutes at a station for the service at the other end to pass and I've spadded too many times that way lol.

If a route is much more fun, complete would mean doing all the services

 

I don’t play it to complete. I play it until I’m bored with it then move onto something else. Maybe I’ll comeback to it later for a few services.

I don’t have anything that I would consider complete, but a lot that I consider I have finished with that is only installed for AI services elsewhere.

 

What is the purpose of this poll? What information are DTG hoping to gain from this?

 

I voted all of the above since if something is missing, then the route is not "complete".
But then again, I don't have the time or will to complete a route as I don't see the point. I play what route I fancy that day and do not grind one specific route for completion. The progress will get partially deleted in the next TSW version anyway (achievements, missing medals).

From a route perspective, a complete route is one that has a wide variety of services - shunting, local freight, fast freight, local stopping trains, semi-fast trains, expresses etc. DRA, BML, RSN, and SEHS are good example of this while single-type routes like Rapid Transit, Birmingham, and SKW are the opposite of this.

 

Probably looking for more features to cut out to save development time

 

I don't get the point of the whole question either... What do you mean completed? This is a train simulator, where the main goal is to simply drive trains.

I suppose doing all scenarios, achievements and tasks might count as "completing" a route, but does anyone really aim to "complete" a route then go for the next?

 

I think for me completion is when I think there's not much more to do in terms of variety. I think all scenarios plus prototypical timetable services for each type of service including all the different calling patterns and types of rolling stock, and I'm done.
I think it aligns pretty much with completing journey mode

 

As a general rule, for me it’s completing the timetable, although on some routes this isn’t exactly achievable in any sense of a reasonable timescale (that is not a complaint).

I find myself more & more connecting to trains rather than a route and ‘completing’ a route based on said train & service.

for example, the DB BR 101, I’ve ticked off the majority of services across all the routes it’s timetabled on and thus to me those routes are complete from the perspective of being an IC driver.

For something such as BML, I tackle that in the same mindset, I prefer running GX, so the route would be complete to me once all GX services are done.

So if you get a route with a large varied timetable, I’d complete it in terms of an experience per train.

 

A very subjective topic indeed. For me, satisfaction comes from completing the Journey mode. After that I feel like I'm able to move onto the next route.

 

I don't ever count a route as 'complete' personally.

my two most played routes are ecml and london to brighton.

i know even if i was to drive every available service in ecml, i wouldn't class it as complete and would still come back and play whichever service i fancied at the time

london to brighton has so many services it would be practically impossible to 'complete', which is fine as i just load the route, pick whichever service i fancy and drive

I feel like if i wanted to 'complete' a route it would take away from the actual enjoyment of playing the game.. i'd rather just drive whatever i fancy on any given day, and not really overthink things like trying to complete a route.

 

I consider the route complete when I finish all journeys for route, scenarios which are not included in journeys mode, gather all collectables and complete the Mastery Challenges.

 

A Route is never finished in my Opinion. If I feel like I want to play on a certain Route/Service, I don't care if I visit that Route for the 1000th time.

 

I used to do the journeys, they included all the scenarios, tutorials and a lot of services and checkmarks.
I lost interest as it was becoming kind of usual to have stuff in them that's not checked as completed or broken in another way, rendering the entire journey incomplete like forever.
Still makes me angry thinking about it oh my ...

 

I would say doing every *unique* service, for example on ECML that would be doing a full run from A to B and vice versa, doing all the unique freight moves, a service with the 158, a service with the Scotsman depot moves with the 700 etc. Once I've experienced everything the route has to offer only then would I consider it complete. This includes doing all the scenarios as well.

 

I’m exactly the same as this - for me there’s no such thing as ‘complete’ because I don’t see it as that kind of game. I see it as a simulator, and you can’t complete a simulator.

I do like the point sunscreen#8305 makes about being able to complete the route HUDless - but for me that is a target - not so much the point at which the route is complete, as the point at which the real fun begins. It’s far more enjoyable and satisfying once you can drive without the HUD as you spend your time looking at the route ahead (like a real Driver does) instead of looking at numbers on the HUD.

 

I don't play scenarios, couldn't care about achievements especially since they are easy to get nor do I care about the points system or medals.

What I do is just play a timetable and go on a route where I can mostly do back and forth services if I have the time to do so. Sometimes I play the same services or try a new service with the same train or a different one

I really don't understand the question to be honest. I don't count a route as complete, especially given that many routes aren't full end to end routes. One really can't complete a route. The whole purpose is to drive a train on a particular line. Sure you can finish the service and do back and forth services in the same train if it is an end to end or a new sevice until you get bored, but I'm pretty sure not everyone is going to play every single timetable service, scenario, get every collectable etc and then just move on to the next shiny DLC. So I think the question could be framed better because nobody is going to "complete" a route because the services can be played over and over.

It's like being a real life train operator. Just because you finished doing one service, doesn't mean you don't stop working and move on to something else

 

This wouldn't be surprising given their reputation for doing that to many routes

 

for me, it's just exploring the entire route. a few services here and there, so I have atleast seen all stations, a bit of the scenery, and accuracy checks
I do want some collectibles to be finished, but only route maps, med kits etc. so it doesn't look so oddly unmaintained and unmanaged...

 

Play a route until boredom sets in, not something that's needs to be "completed".

 

for me it is a combination of everything but services depends on the amount available
some routes have an insane amount of services
then ill just say after 25-50 hours playing or so
but i always return to older routes to complete more services

 

I hate finding collectibles, probably my least favourite thing to do in a train sim. I like to explore, not follow a steam guide and waste 3 hours of life chasing after collectibles to net the trophy/achievement.
When I start a new route I always aim to finish the scenarios first, then do some timetable services. I don’t think the word “completed” is adequate here, especially for a train simulator. Most routes have hundreds of services across all locos, even if I completed all of them I’d still revisit the route.

 

Trains, a route, a new feature. Maybe even gaurd Mode. Old features returning. Perfect sounds and phycics. Realistic scenary....
Oops. Wrong question.
For me I don't fully complete routes often but completing all scenarios, services and collectables would be enough for me.

 

A route is never completed as far as I'm concerned, yes I'll spend less time on it over time but will always go back to routes, especially when there is a new loco DLC for a route and even more so with free roam, that's given everything a new lease of life.

 

Never really finished as some, like BML, have so many trains it would take 1000’s of hours to drive them all. I would say completing Journey mode tends to be a wrap for me though even that I’ve only managed on a couple (and notwithstanding several routes have Journey elements that are bugged and can’t be completed). Dresden to Chemnitz is one where I grinded out Journey mode and never really went back to it.

Collectibles and tasks such as putting up posters or weeding flower beds are to me are an unnecessary nonsense and have little or no part to play in what is primarily a driving sim.

 

Surprising to see The Journey didn't even make it on the list of options, I always work to complete the journey of all routes, I'll then knock off any remaining trophies. That doesn't mean I won't ever go back and play some more timetable services but I don't consider a route 'complete' until I've finished everything in The Journey.

 

I don’t believe you ‘complete’ a simulator. In TSW’s case, there is very little gameplay beyond the back and forth, and many services are nigh on identical anyway, so I don’t really think you would ever actually ‘complete’ a route. In 6 years I’ve never finished a Journey, got all the collectibles or finished a timetable on any route. I think you’d actually need to have the patience of a saint to do that, and in many instances it’s not even possible because so many services/journeys etc are bugged and can’t be completed. Also, given the volume of content and the rate at which it’s released there’s always something, hopefully less buggy, to move on to.

If DTG are going to ask this question of us, I’d like to ask it back to them. When is a route complete from your perspective? At what point are the bugs/errors/omissions thought to be at an acceptable level that the route is deemed to be finished? Are any of the DLC actually complete in that sense? To be clear, I’m not talking about adding features to old content, I’m talking about said content working as advertised when the product was sold.

Dare I say it, but you could actually ask the same question of the games themselves. Was TSW2020 complete? What about TSW2, TSW2:RH, TSW3…were they finished and polished games? I’d suggest that they were very probably not.

I’d also say that the fact that DTG are asking this question is a bit concerning. This is either a sim (which I’d guess the VAST majority of us are here for) or a game, with trophies, collectibles and action points to be completed. DTG don’t seem to know what TSW is, and it seems to be forever in an identity crisis. Perhaps that’s partly why it isn’t as successful as it should be, because no one really knows what they’re getting with it.

 

Indeed, you can´t really complete a sim, can you?
I have never completed a route in any of the TSW iterations and I don´t plan to. Maybe I learned this from the developers...
Just do what you feel.

 

Case in point, I’m just playing SEHS. How many cracks at this route have DTG had? 4? 5? It’s still a bug-ridden mess and almost every time I play it something new pops up. How the heck has someone managed to LOVE-up the stopping points for the Class 700? Why not just put the stop marker trigger in the right place rather than the wrong one? (in case you’re wondering I just discovered that the stop marker trigger at Northfleet is absolutely nowhere near the RLU board, so the instruction doesn’t trigger when you open the doors).

Such a good route let down by silly lack of attention to detail. At this point, is SEHS deemed complete?

 

I don't really "finish" routes, there's always something new or different to do, especially now with Free Roam.

I guess to explain my "other" vote:

Routes with lots of bugs, or poor scenery, or a bad train certainly get much less playtime for me- the really bad ones get pretty much zero.

 

I’m with these wonderful people. There is no “completing” a route for me. It’s a train driving sim. I drive trains as realistically as I can.

 

This post made me think of the Long Island Railroad. That route has a incomplete timetable, full of bugs, terrible distant scenery and in my view is an incomplete route in that sense. You could also argue that tsw rush hour is incomplete because London Commuter still doesn't have rush hour passengers despite rush hour passengers being the main selling point of that package.

You make a very good point

 

THere is nothing left to do on a trainset, when all the Journey is done, and also when all the achievement (also Mastery) are done, and if need 1 more run to try and see the Mastery

 

When ive over 11000 services, 493 (i think) scenarios, likely 1000 odd collectibles i dont think itll ever be complete. Not enough hours in the life for me to complete

 

I’d mark it as completed once all scenarios and services are done. Peak forest is the only route where everything is done for me.

Sometimes i’ll go hunting for collectable but most of the time i’ll collect them if I see them.

I don't pay attention to trophies for previous routes anymore, especially since i’d have to re-gain them for tsw 4, it's too much for me. I’ll still go for them with newer routes though.

 

Routes and DLC are only complete for me when I am no longer interested in exploring them. For some routes and DLC, that can happen after just a few minutes.

For others, such as the DB 101, the 612, the 395, the Acela, DRA, SEHS, and now the Vectron and Vorarlberg, they are nowhere near “complete” despite 100s of hours and thousands of kilometers.

It’s all about the realism of the driving experience, the challenge of driving, and the complexity of the timetable.

 

There’s no “completing” a route for me either. But I do sort of have some totally arbitrary benchmarks that I like to hit.

Hitting “x” number of services on certain routes always feels pretty good, but it doesn’t mean I stop playing it. The number depends on the route.

For example it could be nice to hit 100 services on SEHS but you probably couldn’t pay me to hit 20 on Arosalinie tbh

 

I am in the 'No such thing as completed gang' as personally the medals trophies and what not do not bother me one bit. I wouldn't even say playing HUDless makes it complete, as I try and learn the route well enough to go HUDless on release week and continue to build up extra knowledge from there, so if going HUDless was a thing for completion I would have completed them all within a week of my purchase!
Some routes I don't play often anymore such as ECW or SEHS but that's just because I prefer others and not because I have 'completed those routes'. Certainly an interesting question though.

 

In the words of Jay - "Football Manager? Completed it mate".

In all seriousness though - I don't think there is ever a complete - I have nearly all DLC (only Nidertalbahn (spelling sorry) and the NS Heritage pack I don't yet own) - and still play it all - I revisit it - if something takes my fancy I play it, if I'm not bothered about what I play I do routes in alphabetical order or something similar to break it up and do something different each time...

But completed - don't think any of it will ever have that feeling - there isn;t really a complete.

 

In reality, a route is never "complete" in its entirety. There will always be something new to discover, or I may decide to revisit a route or service I have completed dozens of times already.

But seeing as you asked:

1. All collectibles found. Especially those that are easy to spot such as route maps.
2. All services completed to gold (or platinum for TSW4 routes). Services where I haven't obtained a medal yet will take priority over those that do.
3. All layers available. Any route that has layers, needs to have them, as well as substitutions.
4. I know the train and route inside out. I know the stopping points, braking points etc. for each service.
5. There is nothing left to add to the route. If the route has enough variety, be it service patterns, rolling stock etc. then I may consider the route complete in that aspect.
6. Familiarity with the timetable. I know which trains are supposed to be where, their lengths, the time it takes to complete each one etc.
7. No repetitive services with green lights that are A-B runs. These just become boring.
8. Replayability. Am I able to complete the same service again and again without getting bored? Does the route itself bore me?
9. To a lesser extent, extensions. Is there a possibility this route could be extended again in future?
10. Am I able to play the route without the HUD?

Numbers 2, 4, 5, 6, 9 and 10 do not matter that much, but the others do.

 

Usually if I like the route, I'll aim to do the timetable and find the collectables (WCL & EDN)

But, routes like BML will never realisitcally be achieved, so I just play the services I like (166)

Some routes are just so dull, that I don't touch them anymore, so I guess they're "completed"

 

For me its all collectables, all scenarios, all achievements, and all of the rail journeys for that route.

However i will still play timetable services as and when i feel like it. I have every add on so enough content to drive until im 326 years old

 

Did you do the maths on that one?

 

Is that accounting for all layers too?

 

Don't really understand the point of this poll. Is this a train driving experience or an arcade game?

Never cared about points, scores, achievements etc.. And I've always considered the whole business of " collectables " to be just plain childish in the context of a serious simulator.

So, if those are things that define " completion " for DTG, I fear for the future of TSW. Is it going to get even more " arcadey " than it already is?

If you really want an answer, I would say " completion " is when I'm satisfied that I've driven a service or scenario to the best of my virtual engineering ability.

Of course that often means in spite of whatever bugs and issues interfere with my timekeeping and hold me back from a successful run. I mean how can you complete a route that's incomplete to begin with?

Don't like to be so downbeat but, well, the question was asked.