Upcoming Release Thomas & Friends Visit The West Somerset Railway - Arriving Spring 2025

It is better to announce the release of the Dutch route)

 

24.99€ for that ? Are you okay lol ?

 

£20 is actually insane.

 

Considering how this is marketed TOWARDS KIDS. How do you guys even sleep at night profiting off literal children who don't know any better. It starts with Thomas... And then they start to ask and want more dlc again... And again... And again... It's a whole cycle. Shame on you DTG.

 

Looks great in motion. I thought Thomas would look out of place, but this looks really good. SOLD!

 

Parents these days are willing to spend so much for there kids even if it looks worthy or not. Look at what's already happening to the modern IPad generation.

 

Looks decent. It doesn't show the "friends" but, but it's just a first trailer and they mentioned more in the other release. Compares favorably with the F59 which was well received.

 

They also aren't required to buy the dlc. Technically every developer who develops kid games are profiting off children so how is this any different lol

 

Nobody is, they’ll buy it because they see the blue choo’ choo’. I don’t think “Aren’t required to buy the dlc” is a great argument.

 

The price is very low.
$24.99 for 5 locos and a bunch of scenarios is about on par, and for new players (the intended market) you get WSR, TSW 5 AND Thomas as a bundle for $39.99.
Well WSR is $24.99 ITSELF.
That means $15.00 for the core game AND Thomas together with the 5 locos and scenarios.
That's a bargain.

 

So you don't like children because they want children things?
Or is your hate against marketers for marketing well?

 

absolutely unnecessary, but ok...

 

Never said that, just responding to the claim “They also aren’t required to buy dlc” gives off the same energy as “don’t like it, don’t buy it.” So maybe actually look into things before straight responding. Thanks mate

 

Should have been priced the same as a wagon pack @ £4.99

 

I’m sure the so called ‘ambassadors’ will be gushing all over it when it comes!

 

That's because it's exactly the same thing.
You are freaking out about something that doesn't affect you.
It's a single player game.

 

Two locos, some trucks, and two coaches. Its not just a simple loco DLC.

 

Diesel Legends of the Great Western is about the same price for 3 locos (featured in other routes), 2 coaches and I think 5 scenarios.
So... comparable.

 

People find out others have opinions, shocking

 

Part of me makes me believe you’re responding to the wrong person, bringing up marketing etc. which was what was spoken in the post that I responded to.

 

Alright so it’s not just Thomas but also another locomotive with two coaches and two or more wagons. Why not showing everything else included yet ? Is everything really finished and ready for this spring ?

 

You do know the price of toys has gone up too. Its not cheap to buy just regular toys for kids.

Look how much a Lego set is nowadays, this isn't a bad price at all.

 

Whaaaat!!!

 

Coming out of the year in gaming world...

 

I'm curious what Thomas top speed is going to be? Will he go 200mph like the jubilee? Will diesel be able to keep up with Thomas?

 

Happy to see something like this materialise regardless.

As the parent of a 3 year-old who casually watches me play ‘train game’ I think he’d be a safe bet for target audience feedback on the control front.. assuming you’ve not already tested it with a bunch of little ‘uns?

I’ll also quietly assume that this won’t be the only Thomas & Friends appearance in TSW.. and that ‘train game’ may become more ‘Thomas game’ soon..

 

The Ambassadors will do what we normaly do, take time out of our day (many who work full time as well) to play, record, edit, render and upload or stream a video of Thomas and Friends on the West Somerset Railway just so that you can watch it and then moan about it. If you want I can gush just for you, if it makes you happy.

Where as yes I love Thomas the Tank Engine I am looking forward to the release. But yeah I was expecting the price to be around £14.99 but I guess everyone has to have their cut.

Similar to this I play COD Black Ops 6. They have just released the Teenage Mutant Hero Charecters as playable charecters in Multiplayer. All 4 of them + splinter (the rat) cost about £16.70 EACH to buy. You dont get them all in one bundle for £16.70.... so seperately. So I think you can count yourself lucky they are not charging you £20 for each truck, loco, and coach.

I dont like the TMNT, so I won't buy them. Even if I did, I won't pay that price for each of them.

Hentis

 

We can already see the unofficial spokespersons swooning over it.

IMHO (which is worth what you pay for it) neither worth £20 nor presented as it should have been - as a standalone product with its own little route. Hard no sell for me and they are pushing this while the latest update did absolutely zilch to fix the stuttering and sound squelching which is making the game utterly unenjoyable at present.

It grieves me to say it but if this tanks, DTG should take a sage lesson and get back on board with the mainstream 99.9% of players who just want a decent reliable, up to date train sim with interesting content which runs between meaningful locations.

 

So it seems also the price of 0's and 1's that are written on disk.

Fortunately I could get a game like Lego Worlds with unlimited amount of pieces, which my nephew loves playing, for just $4, instead of spending 10 times more to buy him some single set of blocks. Train Sim World seems to go the other way, closing the prices of virtual products to the prices of toys.

 

We had a quiet few weeks and I knew the complaining would kick off again the moment any further update was made on this.

£19.99 for 2 locos and 4 pieces of rolling stock, plus multiple bespoke scenarios is perfectly reasonable within the game's pricing scheme for other content.

Considering Mattel are definitely not handing out the Thomas license on the cheap (see preservation railways struggling to afford the Day out with Thomas events), I'm honestly shocked this isn't more expensive. I think £20 is the right price for it but I fully expected it to go higher.

£30 for a full game bundle to give newcomers everthing they need to enjoy the Thomas content is also great, makes total sense for them to offer a new entry point for this. I'm still baffled that folk are simultaneously complaining about dev time being spent on this whilst also insisting it should've been a standalone product.

Again, Christmas Express didn't spell a change in direction for TSW, Thomas won't either. Unlike Christmas Express though, Thomas will definitely do far more to bring a wider audience to the game. I'm hear for the real-world stuff, but I owe Thomas everything for my interest in trains and I'm the mushy sentimental sort that will definitely have a big dumb smile driving Thomas on my home Glasgow routes.

A fun bit of joy for those that want it, entirely skippable for those that don't. Just like every other DLC in the game.

 

How's the petition going by the way? Been moved up to parliament yet!

 

Got to wonder if they have jumped on previous conversations about the price of actual model railway equipment - which I will admit is extortionate these days - to jump on the bandwagon and start charging more for the digital equivalent. However that ignores several factors, first of all you need to buy the hardware to run the game on and I have a feeling it’s only a matter of time now before performance issues being “passed to engineering”, becomes “you need better hardware to play our game.” A real model gives you a tangible lump of plastic and metal to hold in your hand, a 3D experience running around a world you actually built - sound, vision and smell when it warms up. If looked after, the chances are it might appreciate in value should you feel the urge to sell it. Digitally supplied software is worthless from the moment you install it, other than any refund policy offered by the vendor such as Steam’s 2 hour policy.

 

Then again the PR department weren’t going into hyperdrive about Christmas Express as if it were the only product coming out that matters. It also wasn’t saved as the big “End Of Year Reveal” when 99.9% of the player base were expecting some significant core updates and improvements or one of the many iconic routes or train DLC’s requested over the years.

I have no quibble with those who want to buy TTTE and wish them every enjoyment from it. I just maintain DTG have gone about it entirely the wrong way, not produced the sort of add on it should have been and now culminating in the premium price they are going to charge.

 

The "only product coming out?
C'mon.... we just got word Cardiff and the Dutch route are coming out soon too.
Saying it'll be "all about Thomas" is like saying "All Ford makes is the Ford Focus!"
or "Coke only makes Sprite now!"

It's just a DLC for people that aren't you.
If other people want to pay money for something you don't like.... so what?
It's not your money after all, and it's a single player game so you'll never see them.
.
Keeping children out of your toy trains seems shortsighted.
Since Lego has been mentioned.... remember the story of the "Lego" movie?

 

Thomas and Friends within TSW isn't of interest to me...

BUT my 6 year old daughter keeps going on about it, and is super excited for it.

 

A short feedback from a parent with a child basically interested in trains and Thomas:
Questions from the child:
- what is West Somerset? Thomas lives on Sodor?
- where are his friends? He has so many more?
... and therefore:
- why can't I drive with Thomas and his friends on Sodor?

And some thoughs of mine:
- since I don't own WSR, for the therefore needed money I bought all Lego games for the Nintendo Switch for my child. Every single one. And that's where the competition lies - maximum playtime for a minimum amount of money. I'm fully aware RL lego is more expensive but I’m looking for video games and real life toys on different occasions.
- please consider a bundle together with WSR. Hardly anyone will be intrigued to buy a game and a DLC just to buy the Thomas DLC afterwards. This is exactly why the whole Train Sim franchise is laughed at outside of it's bubble and not attractive at all.

 

There is a bundle with WSR....

 

But Diesel Legends did not also have the overheads of licensing for a hugely profitable international multimedia franchise.

 

I have no interest in getting this, but I hold no ill-will towards those that are, or DTG themselves. As far I'm concerned I hope this does well, this could prove an excellent proof of concept for a future Thomas game developed by DTG which could prove very successful.

All in all, I'm not going to exhaust my energy being upset about something that I'm uninterested in, afterall I don't get mad when new content is announced for countries I have no interest in playing.

At the end of the day, if you think this is worth your money, go for it, that is your right and I hope you enjoy it and that this proves a smashing success.

In the meantime, I'll be patiently waiting for JT's Class 86, I'm rather looking forward to that one!

(As a side note, heritage railways are in desperate financial trouble across the UK, the things that make them the most money are not the trains but things like Beer Festivals and Thomas events, if the success of the latter can be replicated here, it would be insane to pass up the opportunity)

 

Definitely going to pick it up

 

Looks fun

 

It's off topic, but now I'm wondering what we could do to help the museums and heritage railways with the forum. Group outings? Fundraisers? Content for TSW?
I know it's a bit off topic for this thread, but it has me thinking.... there's how many rail fans on this forum?

 

I still don't like the way this was marketed, but i hope it turns out well and ends up being a benefit to the game overall.

For a niche genre like train-simming, attracting the next generation of players (and route builders for that matter) is more important than many of us old-heads like to admit, so if Thomas & Co help with that, then hooray!

 

I did get asked ""Where is Rebecca""...........

 

Will this open up Sodor for third-party development?

 

I'd wager they're waiting on the response by the public to see if it's worth investing more into a whole route.
SODOR would have to be several routes.

 

I never actually said that…

And while I will probably get Cardiff, a small network that barely extends more than six miles in any direction from its hub hardly gets the juices flowing. The Dutch route on my wishlist too, probably.

But there is currently nothing big for the UK visible on the roadmap (discounting the two short electric bus services from third parties), for Germany an unspecified unknown route and for the USA, er nothing at all.

So yes it does irk somewhat to see all these resources poured into Thomas and that’s without getting into the core fixes the game currently needs.

 

We're not even 100% sure it's an in house project.
Heck, it could be Rivet for all we know.
We just know it's releasing for TSW.