Do We Really Need To Go Through This Every Year?

Besides the download times, why is DTG risking mad customers on consoles whith all the problems that happen there. Is the "new" badge really worth it, making existing players mad at you? Even if it is just a small number, they wont recommend the game any further probably. I've stopped last year, even though it is "free" this year. Who wants to put up with this stress for something, that is supposed to give you joy?

 

I'm glad it's not just me. Even though I've been very careful to select TSW5 dlcs some are showing the TSW4 logo. They have appeared in the game though so presumably they are the correct version, incorrectly labelled.

 

Fortunately I only have a very few routes on my PS5 version of the game, but I am wondering how on earth to get rid of the TSW4 versions of the content that I might have failed to stop downloading in time. Unlike the PC, it’s not a simple case of opening File Explorer and deleting the unwanted content. Bearing in mind I’m going from TSW3 straight to 5 on the PS5 there’s not even a TSW4 install for the content to go to.

Waiting for wifey to disappear off on the exercise bike and will take a look but the whole thing is madness, frankly.

 

Why upload all the routes at once? Select only the new ones and load the rest as needed. I only loaded 3 new ones + 2 locos, and two old ones for layers.

 

All the dlc should be preloaded next time. It takes more than a day before you can start properly on launch day.

 

It's very easy. Go to settings > storage > games and select the PS4 version and delete it.
You can also stop PS4 versions from downloading in the download queue.

 

Thanks Antwerp. Currently trying to shoo the wife out of the way so I can get on and sort it, after installing TSW5 first of course.

 

It’s a nightmare for me, every year. l have had my PC on all night now over 16 and a half hours since the game launched and I am 11% downloaded. I live in a slow internet area, very remote and over two miles from the BT junction box. It will take until the weekend before l can play.

Why cannot DTG bring out a new game that loads into the last edition like they do with TSC. This method of a brand new game when supporters have to install all the content every year to the new version is a nightmare. I won’t be buying a new game in the future DTG, if you cannot make it easier for everyone.

 

You need 5 day early access to your DLC, so you can start the actual 5 day early access. So you need 10 day early access?

 

Except at 5 days before EA we were getting the distinct impression the whole thing was still in kind of advanced beta phase and glued together at the last minute for the EA release. (insert Devil Smiley emoticon which we haven’t got).

 

That's odd as all my downloads on XBox rarely drop below 900mbps whereas Steam never gets as fast as a quarter of that.

 

Exactly. Its a Total PITA!

 

Yes and No! No - it shouldn't happen. Yes - this is DTG!

 

Nope pre load time on PlayStation is 48h before early access. The DLC needs to be available the same day as the Deluxe edition pre loads. It's not that difficult as you try to make it

 

My solution to this with TSW4 and TSW5 has been that I get a six month "preload" period before I fire up the game after a bunch of the bugs are sorted out with the winter patch.

 

Nope! That won't do either.

DLC available in early access is sufficient for me

 

So would you like to utilise all of your DLC routes and rollingstock* that you have worked your arse off to pay for, in next years Train Sim World?
Just remember there could be a time when your DLC will not be coming across. Then where will you be.

Yes its a PITA, but if you want all your DLC to work with the new title then it has to be updated.

*I know some people who have not bothered with some fo their DLC to download what they have got. Only what they use the most.

This is one of the only games I know where through the new titles released each year that your existing DLC has been made compatible for the current game. I think we should think ourselves lucky.

Incidently I have all dlc (109) and I started downloading the DLC about 1615 last night. I paused the the downloads overnight at 0030 this morning. Went to bed. and finally finished off about 0930 this morning. that was the remaining two hours worth of downloading. So about 10 hours in total. It would have been quicker if I was still with Virgin, But earlier this year I had to move and only had the option of BT.

Hentis

 

I went through the list of DLCs and now I know why they posted "what works" and not "what doesn't work".
This is what I own but cannot install:
DE content: HBK, DCZ, NID, HMA, RT, 204, 155, 187, G6, 363, New Journeys SKA
UK content: MML, WCL, BCC, IOW, WSR, NTP, MGP, Cl33, Cl52, SOS, New Journeys BKL, Cl20, Heavy Freight Pack, Cl484, PFR, GWE, GWR, Cl700, 1938 Stock, Cl31, Cl33, 313, TVL
US content: HSC, CC, M3, MP15DC, CSX-C40, MP36PH, LIRR, New Journeys SPG, SFJ, CCR
Other content: LGV, OAK, HDX, LZN, ARL

 

Vote with your wallet. Let that be judge and jury.

 

300 GB / 3.7 MB/s / 23 hours. Hello from the Third World (USA)

 

Depends what the owning company "Pullup Entertainment" wants.

The yearly "New Game" brings in significant revenue compared with the DLC that release throughout the year.

 

What antwerpcentral already explained. But get prepared that sometimes Playstore pushes even the TSW2 PS4, TSW2 PS5, TSW3 PS4, TSW3 PS5 versions and so and so on and so on to the download queue. If you're not fast enough to cancel and delete the unwanted content, proceed as explained.

BUT, since you´re jumping straight from #3 to #5:
TSW5 did NOT recognize my american DLCs as OWNED and wanted me to pay them in TSW5 (again), because I had left them exclusively on TSW3 and the UK and German content on TSW4. I guess you'll have to push those DLC first from 3 to 4 to get the TSW3 content recognized for free into TSW5.

Complicated? You bet ... It's DTG World for you ....... Or Sony's mess ........ or both. I dunno.

 

You need already a lot of routes to fill up the layers in one of the TSW 5 routes

 

I concur with the sentiment that this situation needs to be corrected. While there are ways to ease the pain such only selecting the DLC you really want on launch dat and trickling the rest over a few days/weeks, this really should not be necessary. I am not an Unreal Engine developer, nor am I well versed on the internal structure of the game, but it does seem very wasteful of finite resources, storage space, bandwidth and most importantly, customer’s patience.

As the simulation continues to expand with new DLC, this process is untenable for future “upgrades” and the growth of the franchise will be severely limited. I have been a user of TSC since it was known as Railworks and have a massive DLC library I have collected over the years. Yet, when the upgrade to TSC came out, it was only a small download. I know different engines, but the future growth of TSW is in jeopardy with this current process.

 

I'm a bit fortunate that my internet connection stays fairly consistent as long as there isn't more than 5 devices using it and since I only buy German routes I only have to download that which doesn't take more than 1 to 2 hours.

But yeah I agree, it's kinda tideous when it's a whole every year process and then even when I'm FINISHED. I have to wait for the rest of my DLCs to become compatible.
I just wish that DTG would speed up the process a bit (Full Respect, I know development can be hard and will take time).

 

I can't speak for console, but even with 240GB of routes it was about 4 hours of download and then everything worked perfectly.
It was super easy.
The new routes look very nice.
I think most of the issues seem to be from consoles and passenger runs...which isn't good because that's their bread and butter.
Still, for me it was a nice experience.
I didn't see it as some huge burden.
*shrugs*
Different people have different perspectives.

 

Second this, but technically I would have been able to do this when buying the edition with the Early Access, which actually would be "early download" since it takes 12 hours with or without EA ;-)

 

That's what push square said in their review

 

The amount of time and effort for both players and DTG, going through this rigmarole every year, cannot be worth it. It must cost DTG so much in resources to plan and then fix this when it inevitably goes wrong, just for the marketing push of a 'new' game. And it's only going to get worse each year if this continues.

By all means, rebrand this time next year as Train Sim World 2026 or whatever, but it can't be beyond the wit of humankind to market a core update. Other games like Elite Dangerous have had major version updates without needing a separate store entry (and DTG have the experience of TSC doing just that).

 

Most of the work is from the routes, which would be released anyway.
Rebranding is pretty easy by comparison.

 

Yeah, almost got caught out by this bloat. I got so excited when I finally saw the TSW5 free starter pack appear on PS5 store yesterday, clicked to DL, but then I remembered my monthly bandwidth limit is approaching. Luckily I was faster than my slow internet connection, cancelled everything. That will teach me to be so impatient
I wait for weekend when I have more time & will be very happy if I can DL the starter pack with 1 existing steam route on PS5 and 1 existing DMU route on PC

 

You guys would of had a real hard time living in the early90's.

Remember how long it used to be to download from a BBS? And think of how small the files were compared to today.

It could take 8 hours just to download a photo of Cindy Crawford in a one piece bathing suit.

I remember it took 3 days to download Space Quest. And you needed a separate phone line or else if anyone picked up the phone it would cut you off and you would have to start all ovee.

 

Yeah, remember those days on my 28.8 bps modem using Amiga IBrowse... and IRC #amiga_warez, how long it took to download an 880kb disk image

 

Yeah, it was so hard in the 90's, the dial up system was so slow, you weren't connected to the internet full time because it would cost money to download and the worst part was software companies had this daft idea of selling their games complete, no beta testing by the public for six months, no first day release patches, no update for the update. Yeah, it was a real struggle, it sure was

 

Ah yes and you had to wait months to get a patch on a CD that came with your monthly paper magazine. If you ever got a patch or in the know that there was a patch.

Those were different times.

 

Nice story but it’s not the 90s. In the 90s they could release a game in a finished state.

 

I'm on Console, selected all my DLC, put it into rest mode overnight and it was all there the morning after. Easy as pie.

 

The downside there is still needing to clear 300GB in advance, and being able to play neither whatever you had to delete to make that room or the new TSW in that time.

 

I mean, sometimes they didn't. And it was definitely more of a pain when they didn't.

 

Still no reaction from DTG in this matter. The sentiments in this thread clearly show they can no longer ignore this issue.

 

The current set up is certainly sub-optimal.

However, should DTG not continue with the current model of a new game every year, but continued to introduce new features, would each DLC not need to be updated anyway, in effect downloading each dlc again?

And a note on the green elements of downloading dlc. A quick Google suggests that downloading1 Gb of data produces 3 Kg of CO2. So downloading 300 GB produces 900 KG of CO2. If the userbase is 2000 people (no idea what would be an accurate number) that comes out as 1800 tonnes of CO2 to the environment for the privilege of redownloading content

 

Have to call Frontier First Encounters on that one!

Waited in vain for a patch to turn up on the PC Gamer cover disc.

 

I think Matt already commented on this issue. Maybe someone with a few minutes can do a search.. if not I'll try and find it later.

 

Ha ha ok ill give you that one...

 

There's no need for a new game every year every game that's released is rushed and the routes aren't up to standard and keep having to download everything is annoying

 

If you want them to take twice as along to fix bugs, then are you PROMISING you won't complain about waiting twice as long between releases? And can you vouch for the whole community who won't moan that it "takes forever to get anything new?"

 

There used to be a saying in the game dev world (not sure if it's still true, but guessing it is) that projects have dimiinishing returns. Meaning, the further you get, the less progress you make. So getting closer to "perfection" gets harder and harder and nothing in the end is truly 100%.

If the first step laying the groundwork of 50% "done" so to speak takes say 1 week.
Getting to 75% takes another week.
Getting to say 88% is a week.
Getting to 94% takes about a week.
Getting to 97% takes a week.
Getting to 98% takes a week.
Getting to 99% takes a week.
And from there, there's always the 1% of bugs that you won't find till release.

So, it's a matter of deciding how much more work you want to do before it's "perfect."
It's also about perspective. If one line of code out of thousands is buggy, then that's not a "huge disaster and totally unplayable" necessarily. It's within that 1% that most of the rest of the world is okay with.
There are laws that let there be 1-2% of "non-organic matter" in your food and that's considered acceptable. Even if you DO find it, you can't sue the company because "no one is perfect."
Now for every "bug" that is noticed in the game.... how many OTHER things are working perfectly that AREN'T noticed?
How many THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of lines of code are working fine when you do a train scenario but ONE thing?
It's like your car.
If there's 5,000 pars to your car and one breaks... well at that moment you're obsessed with fixing that one part, but does that mean the other 4,999 aren't working or don't matter?
1 part out of 5,000 means it's working 99.98%

So when people say exaggerated remarks like "it's totally unplayable" or "let's count the things that DO work, because almost EVERYTHING is broken!" it's just silly. Do you REALLY want a list of the 1,000 things working correctly to prove that ONE thing is the exception not the rule?

If ironing out those ones and twos takes 20, 30 or even 50% longer to release a route (meaning up to 6 months) that means that it's 6 months without a release AND 50% more cost. Both things the community ALSO complains about incessantly. So... it's a matter of "damned if you do" vs "damned if you don't." The community complains either way.

Sounds like they are prioritizing shorter dev times, more content and more sales over perfection.
That's a valid business model if MOST of the community keeps buying things that are 97% done.
I didn't hear many valid complains on the QUALITY of the "expert 101" by comparison.... but it took longer to make and cost more and the community which they DID scream about.

Can't make everybody happy because a lot of people are unrealistic in their expectations.

Doesn't matter if it's video games or fixing your car.
"$500? That's ROBBERY! I could fix that myself for half that!"
"Then why did you bring it to me, sir? Why DIDN"T you fix it yourself?"


As far as the releases every year, that's free marketing. The consoles and steam put it at the top of the queue, they get a flood of new players, and they pay basically zero for it. Many companies use up to 20-25% of their budgets on marketing.

Now they COULD just charge 20% more for products and do traditional marketing instead.
TSC is a different business model. Many games release regularly with new numbers in front of their names for just this reason and it saves money meaning cheaper DLC.

TSC is a different creature. Now that DTG doesn't make money on their own content, they are just milking it from the existing content and third party creators living off the royalties.

It's a bit like a musician going on a new "tour" every year instead of just quietly continuing to tour. They have to change the tour name to get more exposure. With TSC model, that musician has basically retired and is just living on the royalties as other people sing those songs and pay them for it.

So do they NEED to release a new TSW every year? Well no they don't NEED to... but it's a benefit to you monetarily that you work off with downloads once a year. Is it worth even 8 hours a year in downloads (which you frankly don't do anything...just run in the background) for maybe cheaper products..or 20% more products from not paying for all that marketing?

 

What's the "standard?"
Everything released is called "not up to standard"...meaning maybe your "standard" is above what the game actually is?
Not everything can be "below average."
That's not how averages work.
If you mean 'expectation" then that's a personal thing.

If your kid gets a B+ every year in school and you say "you're not meeting the "standard"?
Whose standard is it?
No he's not meeting your personal "expectations".... which is entirely different.

 

A catch 22 that.

If DTG spent the next 6 months fixing everything, these forums would be in uproar about nothing new. They just can't win.

 

I want ASLEF STRIKE MODE...that might work....