Dovetail Games Mattel’s Thomas & Friends™ Is Coming To Train Sim World!

Wow, someone got out the wrong side of the bed this morning.

 

I like many, obviously don’t want Thomas in TSW and many of us including myself would have loved a pannier or prairie tank in the game. I hope it is possible that Thomas can be used by someone in the creators club to do a complete livery and make it look like a real engine. If so l may invest in it.

It would be wonderful if DTG scrapped this project and converted it to a real tank engine themselves, as the majority of the TSW community have not been very happy since 2pm yesterday!!!

 

Was out all day yesterday so just got around to see what the reveal was.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

I wasn't expecting much, unlike many who were hoping for new routes, new features, steam, IC225 etc. etc.

but ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Oh well, good for getting the kids into the game I suppose, not exactly something that needed to be saved as a "big reveal" like but then we've been here before with these so called big announcements, perhaps people will finally know better next time.

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

 

I’m surprised dtg haven’t closed this discussion yet
I think everyone has gotten their opinion across now.

I just find it crazy to think though that a BONUS reveal (not a main reveal, a bonus) teasing a long awaited second modern uk freight loco (that being the DRS class 20 from skyhook) has received more appraisal than the so outrageously hyped reveal this turned out to be.

 

I personally really don't care for it. The real problem here is that a lot of the Community doesn't care. So the hypetrain was a big fail. Would have even been better to release the gameplay packs on the 20th and reveal this stuff on the 6th of December.

However, happy holidays to everyone

 

At least thomas will run on my PS5 at christmas

 

Sorry for my bad english

 

Seriously? This ruined your birthday? You need to seriously evaluate your priorities in life...

Apparently, multiple someones, quite a lot actually

 

They don't usually close threads unless they descend into abuse, DTG are very good like that.

They are probably pretty disheartened by some of the responses on here, but they are typically very good at taking on board feedback, both positive and negative.

 

Good luck to them, if it increases their revenue streams its a good idea.

 

I was thinking about getting TSW 5 during the sale. I was waiting to see what the "big reveal" could be... but if this is the "big reveal" I'll keep my wallet in my pocket.

 

TSW 5 as such is free... You can add any DLC you want, most are now discounted

 

FYI, there is only 1 thread in the suggestions board asking for Thomas, and it is from 2023. 1 thread in the almost 8 year lifespan of this game. And whats worse? The poster wanted the isle of sodor, so Dovetail haven't even used their suggestion. This is clearly something that very few people were asking for. For comparision, there are 48 threads asking for a Class 91, 3 pages of people wanting more tube lines, and many other things that are highly requested, but instead of listening to the community, Dovetail Games developed something that literally nobody wanted or asked for.

 

Glad someone went through. Kind of proves how pointless the Suggestions area is really. Suspect I mentioned Yugoslavian steam narrow gauge more times than Thomas got a look in!

And not just the Class 91, the NYC Subway or another London tube line. Numerous requests pretty much on a weekly basis for a new UK freight loco such as a 56 or 60 (with no disrespect towards what looks to be SHG’s reskin of the existing Class 20).

Essentially DTG will make what they want regardless of what has actually been requested.

 

There is also a North Korea route suggestion, from way before the thomas one, russian suggestions, 2 mentions of yugoslavia route, but only 1 thomas suggestion. That shows how few people actually wanted this to come to the game. They clearly don't read the suggestions, or if they do, just ignore them. I don't think we have had a suggested DLC come to the game in years BECAUSE it was suggested on the forums. If Dovetail Games doesn't want things like this reaction to happen again, then they need to follow suggestions.

 

I’ve seen Thomas mentioned in the chat of many streams. I’ve also seen people put down the idea saying they’d never get the licence.

Do you seriously think a North Korean or Russian Route will bring in any money?

Thomas will bring in money. It’s not about what the community wants. Just having Thomas mentioned on the website will drive traffic to it. It’s huge for DTG, just not for us. We however are not the target audience and it was tone deaf of DTG to make it the Day 20 reveal. That is my only issue.

I didn’t stop buying model trains when Hornby made Thomas, it didn’t downgrade my experience as I never bought them. Hornby still carried on making other trains. DTG will also keep making other DLC.

I won’t buy the Thomas DLC, it’s not going to have any effect whatsoever on my enjoyment of TSW. I’ll have forgotten about it completely by the time the next Add on I want comes out.

At the moment it’s a single loco DLC. I honestly don’t understand the fuss.

 

A well done Russian route would be quite popular, particularly if it featured some of those noisy smoky diesels!

And North Korea actually looks to have some fascinating railway routes, very scenic in places and electric narrow gauge.

Of course neither going to happen due to politics, remoteness, security/licencing etc. but not entirely unworthy.

 

If I had my way I would have chosen lots of other things over Thomas. Some would even have been quite popular in the community. Personally my biggest want is a BR Blue class 50.

I doubt any of my wish list will generate as much cash as Thomas.

 

Like many people, Thomas is what got me into trains in the first place, and the early seasons of the show are still something I cherish for some escapism.

I do absolutely think the reactions to this have been severely overblown. The one thing I will grant is having this be the big reveal for a game which otherwise does not overly cater to younger audiences is a little unsual. I can understand why the enthusiasts aren't pleased based on that.

But this IS a big win for TSW and DTG, Thomas will draw new crowds for sure. Depending on the price I also think 2 locos, 4 bits of rolling stock, and a bunch of very bespoke scenarios is a surprisingly decent offering. I'm surprised it's all available in free roam too, I'd assumed Mattel might have put a limit on that so their stuff only appears in pre-approved situations, so that's great to see. Admittedly a compromise solution would've been to lean into the "Day Out with Thomas" angle and have the likes of a repainted Jinty & Class 08 to represent the characters but even in real life Mattel has really clamped down on anything that strays from the accurate silhouettes of the characters.

Also props to them for showing some restraint by using the "Classic" version of Thomas, despite being inactive for several years now, rather than the current extremely wacky 2D version. Bonus points to them if they've managed to make the eyes move somehow!

I'm very curious to see what he's like to drive, I honestly can't even see the existing steam system being used for him. I'll be shocked if he doesn't have a simplified control setup more akin to the DMUs. Also curious if he's using the same chain couplings as the other rolling stock in the game, would be a shame if he can only work with the rolling stock from his own dlc.

EDIT: Also I'm not even entirely sure the same resources would've gone into this as a standard new loco addon. Based on the images of Thomas, I suspect the CGI models from the show have formed some level of base for these. So I don't necessarily think it's fair to say "They gave us Thomas when they could've done XYZ instead".

 

Thomas will make money yes, but that also means dev time will be spent on that. The list of features and bugs people want looking at will still not be addressed. Being told Thomas was the big reveal is like expecting Metallica to play Seek and destroy at the end of a concert and instead doing a Coldplay cover.

Its disappointing hence the reactions and concerning that instead of improving the core that Gordon and friends will be next. Fully aware that money has to be made but feel now a line has been crossed from simulation to pure game.

 

Actually it is, that is why we have this silly profanity filter.

Having said, I do not fele to be in the target group but many people asked for this and kids will love it.

 

Huh, Railroads online a real rail sim? You may like it, but except creating your own tracks there is little simulation in it. Physics not very realistic, driving steam not realistic at all, the way industreis work gamish and so on.

 

Hey guys, don’t forget, sim rail added steam….. for free

 

Errr... I suppose this is going to be free?....

 

haha yeah, and that sounds to me like cars from the "cars" movie were added to something like gran turismo or even forza
or planes from the "planes" movie in something like flight simulator

it's clear to me that tsw isn't a simulator anymore

 

As I mentioned elsewhere what really tees me off is that instead of developing something for US fans who have predictably been roundly ignored in the " reveal season ", DTG have spent time and money on something that will largely appeal to children and those adults entering their second childhood and also something for UK players who have had more than their fair share of " reveals ".

Am I disgruntled, you bet!

Do I wish there was an American alternative to DTG, boy do I ever! If the genie gave me three wishes, that would be number one ahead of wealth and immortality.

 

You mean the one that censors Cl*ss that has been a problem since the game released? Yet another example of Dovetail not fixing bugs.

 

Though at present all you can do is drive a single scenario...

 

I think DTG have lost the plot.
Why dont you fix all the broken things in TSW5 instead of releasing some half a***d load of drivel as this.
JT have done it right, if they can do it right, why cant DTG.

 

At the end of the day I think the issue lies with the fact that announcing and advertising “ a big exciting reveal” - you would expect it to be something that has been highly requested. It’s not about “Managing our expectations” or our hope.

Ultimately, I sincerely hope DTG listen to the feedback on this thread and perhaps put more thought into decisions like this should something similar take place in the future.

 

I just watched the "fireside chat" on YouTube this morning, looking to get more details on the thought process behind adding Thomas to the game.

The first half of the segment I agreed on; Thomas being an excellent gateway into trains as a hobby, the stories being fun and timeless, and the series being a way to connect with other fans. Yup, absolutely, I have zero argument there. It's great for kids, a great way for adults to connect with their kids, and a great way for adults to relive simpler times when they were kids themselves. Even I, in my early 30's with no kids, will still read through my collection of Awdry's stories about once a year.



That said, the rest of the chat made it clear to me that this was not a community-driven decision on the whole, and was a choice made primarily by a combination of corporate and the devs higher up on the food chain. The chat, the hype leading to the announcement, and the announcement itself all come across as extremely ignorant to community feedback and requests, and it feels like the community and public relations folks at DTG have completely failed at reading the room.

I am very happy that Thomas fans are getting content, and that there is a potential gateway for young fans to enter the hobby, and I truly wish DTG luck with this endeavor. That said, I maintain my opinion that at best this is the devs who are Thomas fans brute forcing it into the game, at worst a corporate cash grab to flex a license that sells itself, and realistically a combination of both.

TLDR & for the record... I'm not opposed to Thomas coming to TSW, I'm just extremely disappointed in the execution and hype, and what seems like regular community requests and regular bugs going ignored.

 

And the sound and physics seem pretty poor too. Oh and I got stuck on the tutorial. Came to an abrupt stand, no brakes applied. After a bit of fiddling got going again, only for the same thing to happen again after a few metres. So not much better than the TSW steam experience though the fireman seems more lively and there is some attempt to simulate coal and water consumption. Now and again the fireman shouts something across the cab at you (might be calling signal aspects) which is cool. But overall hardly worth the wait.

 

With all that is broken, as the troubleshooting threads grow, The Red light bug that is yet to be fixed on several services and routes, the suspension update that has broken some services, the outright Steam Locos "Dtg Have Abandoned" and have stated several times "We are in Talks with 3rd Party Devs" but other than that they stated "no Steam content for the foreseeable future" and none US/NA content which does include CA, not (CA/Ant line/San Bern) again stated "They will not let us play with their toys" clearly meaning NO freight from NA/US.

TSW is still not fully supporting DX12, and if your game crashes, well you should not be using DX12 as a launch option "provided it's not mod-related" and this TSW5... Still waiting to hear more about the Train/Route that was for Japan and announced later in the TSW4 year. Or what about the Ludmila from this thread and the most recent video about it in German <-- it's a nice-looking Loco, But this goes back to the TSW3 era.

And TSW is billed as a Train Simulator? Train Sim "World" The only NA content that has been released is San Bernardino and even that was announced for TSW4.
Wasn't TSW Roblox Just released?
Question: Is this another Test Bed to see how well it sells and if DTG can get more Youth into TSW, but youth as in how young?
I have seen some state around the Net they plan to play this with grandchildren, Okay I guess that is one way of looking at it, but this still brings me back to Roblox, Yes?

There are people still playing TSW4 I guess they are not interested in TSW5, there is plenty broken in TSW4 that will stay that way which was migrated from TSW2 then into TSW3 "some that are" and yes some have even migrated into TSW5, I have even been told by a modder not on the forums here, but clearly stated that TSW5 offers nothing new and will say with the FREE starter. When the modding community starts pulling away, a real HARD look must be taken, and as I have stated, several times if not for the modding community and mods that make TSW so much better, I would have stayed on XB and not gone any further than TSW3.

I know I have been all over the map here, there are plenty of reports that mastery challenges can not be completed, I don't really look for these much, but I did inadvertently complete the October Challenge, but it's missing now and all I have to show for it is a screenshot from the website. It's just that There's so much that needs to get fixed and yes I get it to say viable, make a living, and we the gamers want a quality robust product, DTG needs to create new content, but is this what the masses were clamoring for?

I did not grow up with this TV show toy, so I do not see the appeal of it, not for a "Tain Simulator" or as it is billed, not when TSW has modeled some really nice Reeal World Trains and yes I still enjoy TSW I still play TSW2 on XB1X, but this, in all honesty, feels like a slap in the face after reading through the many Suggestions and many were and are good, but they always felt hollow, like who is really going to look at them and read them, which is why I never bothered to suggest anything.

Yuppers the single-handed Southpaw typer has trusck again.

 

I like the Polar Express idea. I’m guessing you were being a little sarcastic, but I think that’s a great idea.

 

I think this is also part of the problem. DTG is making it very easy for themselves, just use some loco, add a new 3D model (Thomas) and voila! Effort on this is really low again. Not to expect anything special for the new controls, there will for sure also be no overhaul of steam physics, it is not needed.

If this would really capture the Style of Thomas the Tank Engine it would be a nice idea, but besides it is not what anyone expected for the big reveal it is also done (again) with the lowest possible effort.

 

Polar Express "should" require DTG to model Pere Marquette 1225....

 

The interview with Ian confirms they are working on a new control system for Thomas and Diesel.

Matt uses the word "rewarding" to describe the driving experience but also stresses it's very pick up and play so I definitely think we'll be seeing something simpler than the existing steam system for Thomas. He does have a fully detailed and fairly realistic cab in the show though so I'll be curious to see how the physical cab controls compare to the controller/keyboard shortcuts.

 

Loving the negative comments lmao. Wonder how much money will be lost for this DLC.

 

That's such a bad joke!

 

A fair bit I reckon

 

Probably nowhere near as much as people would have you believe.

 

I've been saying DTG don't care bout the US or North American fanbase..how of all these three weeks of reveals(majority mentioned already in that direct live), we get a new loco that probably could've been PART of the LA-San Bernandino dlc smfh..But not at least ONE new route??

 

The effort would have been in the licensing negotiations, I think that the models themselves won't be the trickiest ever produced.

 

None

 

I must admit I haven't thought about this much today at all, luckily, but the couple of times on my break it did pop into my head I still find myself laughing as it just seems such a joke and I can't believe DTG are being serious. All the build up for this, genuinely laughable.

I suggest that this thread is best kept somewhat on topic rather than you discussing the football mate.

 

So what is next for DTG via Pullups. Hmmm let's see a new spinoff "They have TSW Roblox" Sooo it is TSK?
Yeah, that's the Ticket, TSK... Tsk Tsk Tsk.

 

Between us, this thing, Thoma train, is an English thing, right?
Personally, in France I've never seen this thing, I doubt that in the USA or Germany it's the same.
In short, the money and time they invested in it won't really be profitable I think.
At worst, the English will take it and maybe a few kids in Europe but no more.
Personally, the announcement of a remake of the Rhu for example would have made me take out my wallet but there....
I really think that this thing should have come out as a demo on its own far from tsw5 and especially not as a "big announcement".


PS: DTG jean:
There is no point in avoiding the truth every time.
We are still in a democracy it seems to me, at least in my country in France we say what we think!!!!

 

Thomas the Tank Engine is big international business and very well known in the US at least.

 

Oh boy your hatred levels are going to rocket to space when you learn this is a global thing, yes it was birthed in England, but like railways themselves we gave it to the world, so yes it'll be very known in France and millions of people in many countries will know about Thomas the Tank Engine, sorry to LOVE on your parade from a great height.......