Dovetail Games Tsw5 Early Access – Everything You Need To Know

Hello everyone,

This is an “Everything” thread, compiling useful information and links to take you across your journey into Train Sim World 5’s Early Access and beyond, from installation and downloading help, to general gameplay guides and support. We’ve also added a list of known issues that our teams are aware of which is useful to review, and additionally added links to places where you can find more TSW content from our ambassadors and creators!

If you’re looking for a good place to start, we recommend checking out our Train Sim World 5 Getting Starter guide, as well as some of the most common FAQ pages linked below.

Train Sim World 5 - FAQ
Do you have questions about Train Sim World 5 & the Free Starter Pack? Please check out the Train Sim World 5 FAQ for all the details and answers to many common questions. For a quick reference, please use the following links to jump to headings within the FAQ guide.

• Introduction to Train Sim World 5
• Train Sim World 5 Content
• Free Starter Pack
• Support Platforms
• Purchasing Train Sim World 5
• Early Access
• Gameplay Questions
• Post-Release Roadmap
• Technical Questions
• TSW Compatible Content
• Legacy Games

Train Sim World 5 - Gameplay Guides
We've now got Gameplay Guides for all Train Sim World 5 content!

These include information on the Rolling Stock, Training Modules, Rail Journeys chapters, Scenario lists, Timetable Layers, Achievements, Route Maps, and a wide range of FAQs specific to each Add-on! We will also update each of these with relevant video tutorials and guides once they are prepared!

Jump right into the guides:

• West Coast Main Line: London Euston - Milton Keynes and Avanti West Coast BR Class 390 Pendolino EMU – Gameplay Guide
• San Bernardino Line: Los Angeles – Gameplay Guide
• Frankfurt - Fulda: Kinzigtalbahn and FlixTrain BR 193 Vectron – Gameplay Guide

How to Download Train Sim World 5 & Installation Playlist
Find information on how to download and install Train Sim World 5, and compatible content, for all platforms on our Train Sim World 5 Installation Support Thread


Shader Caching - Performance On Your First Run
Unfortunately, many games built on Unreal Engine 4 suffer from shader compilation stutter. This is most noticeable as pauses between frames, whenever something new is being rendered for the first time. This kind of stutter will occur on any PC hardware, so it cannot be eliminated with a hardware upgrade.

You may experience this on your first run of a new route in Train Sim World 5. However, you will find that a second run of the same content will be dramatically smoother. This is because the shader is cached when it first appears and allows the game to reuse that data, which is much faster than compiling shaders on the fly. The cache size is limited, so eventually it will be overwritten by new data. Furthermore, shaders will need to be recompiled if you update the graphics card driver or change your graphics card.



We recommend that when playing TSW5, if you're experiencing performance concerns during your first run, try the route again and you will likely notice much better performance from then onwards. To help make this even easier, if you're able to jump into an AI train that is driving along the route, you can let the game compile the shaders all automatically without needing to drive yourself!

As a note, this doesn't happen on consoles because the hardware inside a console is a known quantity and the shaders can be precompiled and shipped with the game. The different combinations of hardware inside a PC is impossible to predict, so shaders have to be compiled on demand.


Explore Videos from Content Creators and Ambassadors
If you’re excited for the release of Train Sim World 5, or just trying to get a glimpse of the new content, be sure to check out a range of new videos releasing from today and throughout the Early Access period from our wonderful ambassadors and TSW content creators.

We’ve shared a mega-thread of content for you to explore in our TSW5 Ambassador Video Thread


Train Sim World 5 - Feedback Threads
We’ve opened a new range of dedicated feedback threads that our teams will review following the Early Access release of Train Sim World 5, for the new routes, locos and core features.

You can find these on our Train Sim World 5 - Early Access Feedback Threads Forum


Train Sim World 5 – Early Access Known Issues
Here is a currently list of issues that we’ve identified within the Early Access build that we want to make you aware of. Our teams are investigating many of these issues to address with updates for launch and in post-launch improvements.

• West Coast Main Line & Class 390 Pendolino
  • Various areas of lighting needs adjustments, around Euston Station, Watford High Street and within some tunnels.
  • Passengers are unevenly spread around Euston Station
  • A number of non-station stops exist in the directory that need to be removed
  • Draw distance for city skyline needs extending
  • Virtual PIS locations are not yet implemented for off-route locations
  • Some trains are not showing their operator logo in the menu
  • Class 390 Pendolino is missing GSMR functionality
  • Class 390 Pendolino needs adjustments to front/rear coupling alignment
  • Class 390 Pendolino has uneven lighting intensity around luggage racks

View our recent thread regarding Your Feedback for WCML improvements for more information on these.

• San Bernardino
  • Manual junctions have been improved; however, you may find a signal showing a STOP aspect (red) even though there isn't a train in front of you. Please find a more detailed explanation of what we’ve changed, and the new challenges to be aware of, in our San Bernardino Junction messaging below this thread.
  • Service SBD 382 currently held up by SBD 333 and runs late
  • Traffic on the section between SBD and Downtown missing
  • Currently if a manually aligned switch is incorrectly aligned on a path, its protecting signal will be STOP, should be RESTRICTING
  • Some issues with level crossings

• Frankfurt Fulda
  • ICE-T Safety systems must be switched on AFTER the reverser is put into forwards
  • Virtual PIS locations need to be adjusted in the timetable
  • Signal before Neuhof doesn’t announce 80 coming from Fulda
  • Eszett “ß” character is missing from train PIS
  • Sometimes formations appear using substitution that would not work (such as a top-and-tail with BR146.2 at one end and a BR114 on the other)
  • If you take too long to key in the brakes on the BR114 they can get to a place where they can’t be fully released. Workaround: Key in brakes as soon as you get in the cab.

• Conductor Mode
  • Starting from in-world or changing to conductor mode mid-session isn’t working as intended, so we recommend starting conductor mode from the menu.
  • Birmingham Cross City will feature an early development version of conductor mode in the launch build, and we do not currently recommend you play conductor mode on BCC for the time being whilst we continue to implement and improve this experience.

• Achievements
  • The achievement for completing all WCML scenarios isn’t currently possible if you do not own the Class 390 Pendolino. We’re updating this shortly to be independent of the loco add-on.As a note, we’re taking the opportunity to update future achievements that state “Complete ALL scenarios” to be “Complete X scenarios” moving forward as a post-launch update. Additionally, “Distance driven” achievements will be changed to “Distance driven within the speed limit”.

Our teams are investigating these issues and will be addressing them alongside raised feedback from Early Access in a post-launch patch as soon as we can.


Troubleshooting and Support
If you need further assistance or would like to report an issue you’ve encountered, please refer to our Support guides below for troubleshooting and submitting support tickets for bugs:

• How To Troubleshoot Technical Issues
• How To Report A Bug

Send Us A Screenshot Using #TSWRailShots
Fancy being featured on a loading screen, or on our social media channels? Why not send us your best screenshots of the new content using the improved Photo Mode in Train Sim World 5 on our #RailShots Screenshot Thread, and we’ll be highlighting a selection every week on our channels and within the game!

Thank you everyone, don’t hesitate to get in contact with a member of our team and we’ll do our best to help - Have fun!

 

San Bernardino Line – Updated Manual Junctions
An update from Matt Peddlesden on the improvements to junctions on San Bernardino Line, as well as new challenges to be aware of:

Matt: “In many parts of the USA, there are manual junctions that can be found mixed in with signalled areas of track. This saves the railroad money and maintenance putting in all the expensive equipment required for an infrequently used junction. In reality, the engineers using this would be given a signal into the section, stop before the junction and then jump down and align the switch before proceeding off in to the siding or yard area.

Previously in TSW this was not possible to achieve and such junctions were implemented as motorised junctions and had some extra fictional signalling added to support them. For San Bernadino, we've improved the system to cope with manual junctions and thus allow this aspect to be experienced authentically.

This change brings an additional challenge that you will need to be aware of however. In reality, a well behaved crew will always re-align switches back to the main once they are concluded. Unfortunately, our AI crews are not as helpful! As an engineer running along the line, you may find a signal showing a STOP aspect (red) even though there isn't a train in front of you. Pull up to the signal and stop (do NOT pass it) and then use the map view to check switch alignments. You may find if you Contact the Dispatcher that you'll get a "Check Switches" response, which is a good indicator that this is the problem. Use the map, check the switches and find the one(s) that are aligned incorrectly to follow your blue path, once you've done that, if the signal doesn't automatically upgrade then contact the dispatcher again and that should do it.

 

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to add some quick solutions for common issues we've been seeing:

• Can't install TSW 5 on Steam - Please restart the Steam client and check for updates
• Route Missing on Xbox - Power cycle the console and reinstall the missing add-ons.
• No AWS sound on PS5 - Make sure you turn on the AWS fuse (above isolation switch) on the rear panel

For everything else please make sure to check our extensive FAQ linked in the first post and feel free to reach out to us by creating a ticket with any issues that can't be resolved with the troubleshooting guide.

All the best,
Jan

 

• Claim Train Sim World 5 Free Starter Pack on Xbox
• Claim Train Sim World 5 Free Starter Pack on PlayStation
• Claim Train Sim World 5 Free Starter Pack on Steam
• Claim Train Sim World 5 Free Starter Pack on the Epic Games Store

For more information about the Free Starter Pack, please check out the Train Sim World 5 FAQ.

Example: How to Claim on Steam

1. Go to the link: Claim Train Sim World 5 Free Starter Pack on Steam
2. Log into your Steam account.
3. Scroll down to "Play Train Sim World® 5: Free Starter Pack"
4. Click on Install Game.

 

Train Sim World 5 Release - Known Issues
Rest assured the following issues are known to the team and for those marked incomplete/unresolved we are still investigating.

Compatible Content Availability

• Steam Status:Complete
• Epic Status: Complete
• PlayStation Status: Complete
• Xbox Status: Complete

If you are still having trouble downloading content on a platform marked as complete, please get in contact with Dovetail Support.

Regional Bundle Pricing Issue on Steam
Status: Resolved
Click here for more information.

Profile Importing not available for PlayStation players in the Americas (SCEA) region.
Status: Resolved

Profile Importing not available on Xbox PC
Status: Resolved

Deluxe Edition not showing as "owned" on Xbox
Status: Resolved
This is expected behaviour and will have no impact on your ability to access or play the game. The "Deluxe Edition Pre-order" and "Day 1 Deluxe Edition" are two different products, which swap out when the game is released. Therefore, if you pre-ordered the game, you can no longer see that product on the store.