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

I'd have to calculate that
But in the 1980's belgium Thomas was sadly quite unknown. ( at least by me )
After seeing the fireplace movie with Jamie and Matt, i am really saddened that we didnt get those contents here

 

Genuinely my heart bleeds that as a kid you didn't get the majestic pleasures of reading your first Thomas books, I still have a boxset of the original rev awdry collection, I would end anybody that stole them it's that important to me........

 

I wasn't around when the holiday express DLC launched so I never saw the community reactions to that, but I do find it a bit ridiculous folk are treating Thomas' arrival as some sign of shifting focus and stepping away from "pure sim". The holiday express was a bit of standalone fun that had no impact on the wider game, Thomas will be the same except likely to be a far bigger success with general audiences.

Thomas will not be for everyone much in the same way I'm sure every DLC is not for 100% of players.

I can understand disappointment and disinterest but the sheer toxic attitudes on display over this have been embarassing to watch.

 

In my memory there was also a relatively negative general response to that announcement, but I honestly feel like the forum is a big filter bubble and doesn't necessarily represent a majority of the player base so there's that

 

I'll buy it if I can do this

 

Which DLC did you get?

 

Agreed 100%. I have fond memories of reading the books as a kid, but little interest in buying this DLC until it's deep discounted (or if it were a charity fundraiser, or something like that). But this DLC doesn't devalue my collection of routes, any more than Holiday Express does.

Honestly, some people need to calm the heck down and remember it's Christmas.

 

Question for DTG Jamie or DTG Matt - where can that Thomas model on the table be procured from please?
It’s a nice chunky size!

 

Which did you end up choosing?

Also, well said.

 

Shamelessly jumping in. I believe that's the CoolProps Thomas, a recent-ish Japanese replica of the prop from the later live-action seasons. Available to buy but veeery expensive, especially if you're shipping it out of Japan.

 

XD

 

No one is going to buy this content.

 

Yes, but apart from railways, the industrial revolution, steam shops, iron bridges, steel bridges, steel, modern concrete, tarmac, public sanitation, the steam turbine. the gas turbine, the internal combustion engine, the jet engine, the bicycle, airliners, the electromagnet, the telephone, radio, television, calculators, computers, the internet, constitutional government, the original bill of rights, parliamentary democracy... and Thomas the Tank Engine, what have the British ever done for us?

 

I had a sudden rush of pride and patriotism running through my veins as I read that post.

 

A large percentage of the modern day world has Britain to thank for existing

 

Probably most participants in this forum are way too old to be able to enjoy Thomas, but our grandchildren may like it a lot. We may allow them that joy happily.

 

Mine laughed nearly as much as what I did, and they grew up with Thomas, whether they actually watched it or not I wouldn't know.

 

I was happy at the announcement - my son loves Thomas - I loved Thomas when I was younger. My lad has loved trying to pick up train sim world - but at 8 he finds the controls a bit tricky - so a simplified control like the Christmas one is a positive way for me to include him in TSW.

 

Add Doctor Who, Strictly Come Dancing and (recognising the source of the paraphrase) Monty Python's Flying Circus, among other cultural icons.

 

I'm going to predict that it will be 2025's top-selling content for TSW, because there are probably far more Thomas fans than you think.

 

Will that be TSW5 2025 or TSW6 2025?

 

Cheers. I got the only route I didn’t already have, MBTA Boston-Worcester. Somehow I’d managed to catch up with all the routes I didn’t have thanks to recent sales and thanks to this unexpected bonus I have them all now

 

It's not for me (for one thing, the West Somerset line I bought way back when doesn't seem to be recognised anymore and I'm not paying for it again) but my nephews were mad about Thomas the Tank Engine when they were younger (as I was back in the Ringo Starr narration days) and I'm sure they'd have enjoyed this DLC if it had been a few years ago.

I saw the news, had a little chuckle of nostalgia thinking back 40 years to reading the books and watching the show, and moved on. Still enjoying the Carlisle-Preston route and looking forward to the Manchester line.

 

Fair enough ( though please stop patting yourself on the back so much ), but you missed the salient points that the less vitriolic among us are making.

Firstly this Thomas thing was completely a DTG idea, not a response to the community. So yes, many players are disappointed with the rather selfish idea of having something foisted upon them that was on DTG's wish list, not that of many players if you read the speculation threads. Weren't you the only one that mentioned it? Hmm. Well, as you say, you deserve it more than most.. ( Why is that exactly? )

Secondly it was not something than benefited the majority of the player base as it should have been, given the PR that announced it as a " grand reveal ". As many have said, DTG completely failed to " read the room ".

So enjoy MBTA. I just got it myself on sale using a gift card my mother-in-law gave me.

 

They will
Loads of people grew up with Thomas and his friends

 

Just a point, but this room isn't the only room. DTG may be working from input received elsewhere. Or they just decided that Thomas was big enough that joining up would be more likely to be lucrative than not. Either way, this partnership would have taken some work, which wouldn't have been decided lightly.

And this will be just one more DLC dropped into a large pool, to be fished out by people as desired. It's not being "foisted" on anyone, any more than Holiday Express was.

 

But Holiday Express wasn't the Grand Reveal everyone was PR'd into excitedly anticipating for an entire month.

" Thomas " can't be described as " Just one more dlc dropped into a large pool ".

 

DTG said they have a grand reveal, it was the members of this forum that whipped themselves into a crazy mass of hype, the trouble with people is as they start throwing all the ideas under the sun at what it could be, they then convince themselves and others that it's definitely it and from that it snowballs down hill with more people convinced that their own idea is the thing that will be the reveal, DTG even said to temper everyone's expectations down, but at that point most of the folks of these virtual halls fully believed their own wishlist idea was about to come true......

 

DTG pushed the idea of this big reveal for over a month and it takes half a brain to anticipate what that will then entail in terms of community engagement. The season of reveals included route announcements, gameplay packs and new add-ons so the basic assumption would be that the 'big reveal' that those have been leading up to would be at least more exciting than a toy.

 

Yes the season of reveals did have routes loco add-ons and all the other stuff you mentioned, but again it was the forum peeps that assumed it would be more of the same, DTG never said anything to claim it was, people really did forget the very true meaning of assumption is the mother of all f..k ups........

 

I understand where you're coming from but using an advent calendar as an analogy (somewhat appropriate in this scenario and in the festive spirit).
Lets say you have an advent calendar with a big door in the middle for the 24th and all the other little doors around it; your assumption is that the chocolate you're going to get on the 24th is going to be bigger and better than the other 23 bits of chocolate, you wonder what it might be. Come the 24th you open the big door and find that the bit of chocolate is exactly the same as all the other days, you would rightly be disappointed, and would also rightly think that the company that made the advent calendar has cheated you.

 

Sure it can; that's still all it is, one DLC among 115 (or more by that time) that can be freely added or ignored by everyone.

Now, if Thomas becomes one of the included DLCs with TSW6 in place of a regular sim route, that would be foisting, and I could certainly see people being upset.

 

I will just say 2 things.

1. I can see the angle your coming from and can understand what you are saying, but no as long as a bit of chocolate (or reveal in this case) was behind the door, you haven't been cheated, it's done exactly what it stated would happen.

2. I've been on this planet long enough and seen, experienced enough crazy random stuff in my life that I don't assume anything, the fact I even wake up every day after the many things that have nearly killed me, I don't even assume that, so I don't get caught up in any hype I just wait for the reveal and make a decision about it from there.........

 

Ok, so a WSR addon is a bit of a disappointment, as I would really want a proper Sodor expansion, but given it is intended to be a narrative DLC, the clincher to make it a day one purchase for me would be confirmation of Ringo Starr narrating.

 

Wow though, if this announcement has shown us one thing...

It's which forum members have a well cultivated inner child, and which are just childish.

 

I like TSW because its supposed to be a serious Simulator. If i wanted a kids game i can buy one somewhere else. Making this the big reveal is also not taking the customers serious.

 

TSW was never a serious simulator anyway so big deal
it was always a simulator with some arcade game elements in it

 

Cricket

 

Me:

 

As I have already said, I am not excited about the release of Thomas but that maybe because I knew it from my childhood and I like to keep there. Now if it was Ivor The Engine that would of been better.

 

Can somebody please show me the law against having the likes of these sharing shelf space in my library?



And if you cannot, why should I treat my installed videogames any differently?

 

Wow, this has been a marketing disaster. By all means have a collaboration with Mattel and bring Thomas into the series (I grew up with the Ringo Starr era so no complaints here), but to build up "reveals" of mostly previously-announced content and make us wait until the 20th for this?

Could've announced something else the community has been calling out for (i.e. the Class 91!!!), but no. Okay then.

 

I have both Peanuts cartoons and Dario Argento horror movies on my video shelf, and they accept each other unconditionally.

 

Yup, it's a generational thang - TV wise, I'm the 70s Ivor generation, too (1976-77). Thomas first aired in 1984.
I prefer books, tho, for their greater depth and I did enjoy The Railway Series.

 

First time checking the forums since the announcement, but judging by these recent posts, the community response was pretty negative at first, but has now calmed down (kind of). The Twitter replies were pretty nasty, for what it’s worth.

I personally love it. The announcement was surely a bit surprising considering the 20th of December had been hyped for a few weeks, so many were expecting something much bigger than “just” a loco/gameplay pack. But if you think about it, this is a pretty big deal. Tons of players (or their kids) probably grew up with the franchise. It’s a great way to enjoy something different in TSW, while allowing kids to get interested in the franchise from a young age. Imagine how many railfans this will create. Reading the books or watching the show is great, but how about controlling the trains themselves?
Doing such a collaboration also gives TSW/DTG a lot of recognition/legitimacy and increases the overall attractiveness of a TSW appearance for e.g. a train operator, so we may see more licensing opportunities arising in the future because of this.

I watched the TV series quite a lot as a kid, and I even still have a train station with a few locos somewhere in a box in my basement. I’m probably not the target audience, but I may still pick the add-on up at some point if the story missions end up being really well done.

 

I have not been interested in Thomas the Tank Engine at all and never watched the show so I won't buy this. The reaction on here and other socials seems to show that most are not happy about this. As one user here pointed out, there were very few suggestions for Thomas to be in TSW. Hyping up a product that most didn't want or ask for is bound to draw backlash. It's also well known that most players don't want fictional content in TSW and DTG were aware of that. I think it goes to show that DTG can't read the room and does not listen to it's customers.

I can understand them trying to maybe get kids into TSW by introducing Thomas to the game, but is a 5 year old really going to be interested in this when other products exist especially long term? I feel like this is only going to appeal to a very small niche. I feel like this would've been better suited in TSW Tycoon. For a game that keeps advertising itself as an authentic simulator, customers are not going to want products like Thomas.

This leads me to wonder what direction does DTG want to take tsw in? It seems that TSW does not have a solid direction.

 

The key point to all this in my view is very, very simple.

the problem isn't that DTG are going down the Thomas the Tank Engine route (for what it's worth i don't agree with it and think it's a waste of valuable time and effort that should be better spent elsewhere.. but ultimately that's just my opinion, albeit one shared by a fair number of others on here)

The problem is this being the 'Big Reveal'. DTG knows it's core and targeted audience, and still decided to hype them up knowing this was the Big Reveal knowing practically nobody asked for this. That is the problem, not Thomas being a new DLC, but Thomas being hyped up for weeks on end to a target audience who would expect, quite frankly, literally anything else.

 

Yeah, but we’ll forgive you for that

 

I don’t think the analogy is quite on. Say rather that that last chocolste is a really big one, but it’s coconut- and you hate coconut