Hi, I wanted to know if there are any plans for a french or belgian route of the "TER" type (regional ones). I feel like there is only germany, UK and US. Even the new routes never explore new countries. Even if it is not france or belgium, we need a bit of variety in the locations.
DTG have said that they made the TGV route because it was a TGV route, not because it was French, and because it was the only TGV route with stations that were close together. That said, they've now gone to Austria and the Netherlands, so do give the suggestions forums a try and get good quality French DLC suggestions in to show that there is interest.
I'm honestly flabbergasted that DTG are not pursuing more French routes. After all, except for Ireland it's geographically the nearest country to the UK, and there are already a bunch of assets including signalling ready to roll from LGV. As has been mentioned in another thread, it does seem that they now have a skeleton crew of internal expertise, instead relying on outsourcing work or being a publisher of 3rd party content. I do lament the early days of TSC and TSW when there was the modus operandi and excitement of a start-up, when they were happy to try their hand at anything. Today, it feels like Dovetail prioritises maximum cash from a minimum of content. R&D seems completely dead; where are the improvements to the game engine? Where are the options users expect from a modern game such as DLSS/FSR/XESS upscaling? Where will TSW be in five years? Ten years? Are they actively looking at moving to UE5, Unity, SnowDrop?
Haven’t SNCF pulled the plug on licensing and access for security concerns? Fairly certain that’s what was posted a while back. So no more SNCF routes, LGV or Classic.
That's a shame. However, doesn't France also have a few other train operators besides the SNCF? If so, a French route might still be possible if one of the other train operators cooperates. But I fear that's just wishfull thinking. Would love to see a bit more of France.
Guess it depends if they have the final say on depiction of the infrastructure, signalling systems etc.
I think dtg said that upscaling didn't really bring much benefit to tsw to make it worth upgrading in terms of performance and visual quality. It's the same situation with dx12 which is why it hasnt been upgraded. Any change in graphics engine like unity or ue5 would require a complete restart and i don't think anyone would enjoy having to rebuy their entire collection
Would be a shame, ever since I first drove it I was eager for more especially to find out how non-highspeed French signalling worked.
I did see news about SNCF being terrified of access to railways for fear of "sabotage" after the attacks on railway infrastructure. Even if it's just vandalism, they consider it a safety issue so don't expect a license anytime soon.
Has SNCF or DTG officially said that licencing had been withdrawn because of SNFCs safety concerns? I don't mean to sound like I'm on a DTG hating rant, but surely there is a TGV route similar to Kassel - Wurzberg with open country and stations in-between that isn't to dense? And if that can be done surely part of a TGV route is totally possible. I don't entirely buy some of the reasons DTG give these days. Licencing yes, that could be problematic issue if it is true... But outside of that a long stretch of route is not impossible if a German route of 100+ miles can been done? I'm sure a similar TGV route should be possible? I honestly think it boils down to DTG not being willing to throw resources into a large project and would rather have several smaller routes being developed at once (to their own detriment in my opinion, but to an extent understandable if you are trying to make as much yearly profit as possible as company). One can only hope they see sense one day in making some decent flagship InterCity routes such as a TGV one. The existing TGV is a smashing route for its time and I'd really like to have some more. The TGV routes definitely have a lot of potential to offer and could easily be one of the 'flag ship routes' given the chance. If DTG doesn't pick up on it, I hope a third party developer will.
Yeah it’s coming slowly, the TER line between Marseille and Nice will be transferred to Transdev from June 2025 (if there’s no delays). Other companies are being created and one called Kevin Speed (no no I’m not joking lol) is planning to run low cost high speed trains from 2028. Many more are to come and I was only talking about French companies but of course for a long time, we have other TOCs operating in France such as FS Trenitalia with their high speed trains to Paris, RENFE with their AVE just to cite them. Tracks, signaling, stations etc are still the property of SNCF Réseau so that might be an issue with licensing, let’s hope it’ll change really soon.
Fairly certain Matt P said something to that effect, but buried away now in the forum archives and, as apparently he no longer looks at the forum, not about to pop in the thread and reaffirm the complications.
While I find the LGV mind numbingly boring, I don't see the SNCF changing their minds, especially after that kerfuffle around the Olympics. However, what about other options? Isn't there a Paris Metro? I could be wrong, but I don't THINK it's owned by SNCF, it's a separate entity. So that could be an interesting option for a French route that doesn't go through SNCF. It's not for everyone, but the people who like the MBTA and London Overground should enjoy it. There's hundreds of stations to explore and lots of track, all in a rather dense area... few dozen square miles maybe? It's also historic, going back over 100 years with a ton of world known landmarks possible, especially if they use the TSW signature feature (getting off the train with an avatar) to explore. That's something a lot of other games DON'T have, so being a tourist in Paris (well the parts near the subway) would be something you can't do on any other game.
The RATP operates and the Région is the owner of the trains, some old trains are still with the old white and green livery and some are being refurbished with the white grey and blue « IDFM » livery, like every brand new rolling stock is wearing. It’ll be quite interesting to have the line 6 for exemple as it’s a scenic route with underground part and also a huge one on viaduct, with the famous Bir-Hakeim bridge next to the Iron Lady. I’m afraid it’ll be difficult to obtain licensing as we suffer the same problem as the MTA: imbeciles train surfing instead of traveling inside the train.
