On the livestream yesterday, JD spoke about how the first tracks for ATS’s first route had been laid, and they were reviewing the gameplay, once we hear more about this route what could we be getting
I look forward to seeing what ATS are working on. Slightly off-topic, a few weeks ago on one of Alan's live streams, he was talking about collectables and how he doesn't like them but understands that some people do like collecting's things and replacing broken items etc.. I wonder, if collectables are a "requirement" or optional. I assume it's the former but if it is optional I'd be sure ATS wouldn't include them.
i wonder what alan and his team are building, i have a feeling it might be Liverpool to Manchester, Kings X to Kings Lynn or a WCML missing link (Stafford to Preston)
This might be Chat Moss or Fen Line King's Lynn to Hitchin where it merges with ECML South for King's Cross
I'd guess like other third parties their first route will be shorter than what many will hope for, but personally I think it's the correct path to follow whilst they get to grips with the tools and TSW nuances. I certainly can't see them doing Liverpool to Manchester due to the complexities of not 1 but 2 big end stations. I'd love to see something in Wales maybe Chester to Wrexham perhaps?
I would too expect their first route to be shorter. I suspect the Blackpool route is JT. I wonder if Alan Thomson might do something like the Peterborough to Camrbidge route, something not too long which they have done before, I would think Chat Moss might be a bit much for their first TSW route. I am interested in whom will supply the stock for these routes. I know Alan Thomson sells some rolling stock so presumably has some on board. JT haven't added to their site any home built stock for TSC for a long time. I think the LNER V2 or one of the BR standards was their last. Of course they might have someone on board now.
I think he asked the same question on the Facebook group. Basically wondering what the community thought about them and what sort of items. I mentioned I like the small things that are somewhat realistic and don't stand out once they are collected/repaired (i.e. hard hats, first aid kits, fire extinguishers). I am not a fan of the stuffed animals and stuff that you see forever and can't be removed. Everyone's different though and some people enjoy that stuff.
My guess: A short UK route, possibly historic. New diesel loco. As for collectibles I'd love to see him build all-new collectibles (besides the map) and hopefully ones that have some significance to the route he is making. Some examples: Employee time cards, bulletins, souvenirs of landmarks in the area, etc.
I liked the Dinosaur from IOW22, but they reversed, so disappeared when collected. Which is a bit of a shame, as they were nice models. But I think the best ones are maps, posters, first aid/ fire extinguishers, Cathcart's flower beds.
I’m going to have a random guess and see in the future how far off I am, for the Alan Thomson Simulation route as Liverpool to Manchester (Modern Period). On the note of collectibles I think their quite fun, I do them whenever I can, the only time I won’t is that I prioritise the service I’m driving to keep to time
The ones I hate are those that 1) Are practically invisible, like fallen logs and holes in chain-link fences 2) Are located out in the middle of nowhere and you have to search miles of trackside on foot for them 3) Especially the fallen logs, which are both
I'd buy pboro to Cambridge if it released with no trains , and was 40% complete upon release to be fair
I know this is off topic from the OP, but, I also don't like the BCC ones, the route maps are tiny, the chocolate bars are almost invisible to see as they're just cardboard boxes, the bulls are broken and the teddy bear is nice, but I've seen it miles out from stations and that's too much effort for me On topic, I'd like to see the Wherry Lines with the 170, Settle and Carlisle with the 142/158 or the London Liv St to Southend Victoria with the 321/ 315.
Like a DTG route then? Can’t help but feel a lot of you are miles off. ATS do modern content (and they do it very well indeed), it will almost certainly be a modern route.
Well someone appears to have made it or is making it. Also the guys who made the freeware TSC route work for JT as far as I am aware. JT have made short routes in the past or certainly published them and I don't think we should expect something mammoth for the first route.
Im very intrigued to see not only what they come up with but also the quality of it. I remember watching a few tsw videos on the ATS channel where he gave a lot of constructive criticism so will be interested to see the kind of quality they can produce. I've never played TS being a console player but have heard they produce good quality content for that. So eagerly awaiting whatever they do for tsw
And almost certainly in the North West. Would be funny if the rumoured Preston to Blackpool route was actually theirs and not Just Trains.
we could also get the missing link, there’s a likelihood of it, it might be quite long for a first route, but a lot of ATS routes on tsc are long as well
Nope. They are still hard at work. Creating a dlc in tsw and unreal engine is a massive task. From a leak, it is speculated ecml is coming soon and ats are very experienced with ecml so they probably helped with it if it turns out to be true. Remember it's just a rumor, not official
Good point and for TSW3 owners that have TSC that might mean the following ATS TSC routes WCML Preston Stafford/Birmingham the Missing link Liverpool to Manchester via Chat Moss and lastly the Fen Line.
I don't know if it was reported somewhere, but is Alan Thomson still part of the DTG outsourced developers? I say this because the ECML route released was presented as an extension... Could anyone clarify this please?
I didn't see or read anywhere it's an extension so where was it stated? Anyways look on the roadmap. It lists them as a 3rd party making a new route
not sure how ECML could be classed as an extension neither Doncaster nor Peterborough were in the game previously or any other station on that line.
I remember the Peterborough to Doncaster being shown on screen as an "Extension" when it was originally announced so don't discount what one poster said. What I do know, from Alan's stream, is that the route uses "rolling stock that's already in TSW". If we look at what routes they've released or are releasing in TSC and therefore which ones they already have source material for, then we have; London to Peterborough. Doncaster to Leeds and or York London to Kings Lynn via ECML/Cambridge South Wales Line. Liverpool to Manchester (Chat Moss) Cross-country Bristol to Birmingham Harrogate Loop I won't include GEML, Norwich to Sheringham or any of the WCML sections they've done as there is insufficient TSW rolling stock. It doesn't necessarily follow that they're making a TSW from something they've already researched for TSC but it would be a logical move to save on development time.
from that, do we know what era ATS pefers to work with, is it likely to be a modern route or historic? Shame that it uses pre-existing stock, but also, if it saves time, I'm all for it.
Oh god I hope not. One of the most mind numbingly dull railways I've been on. And you can bet the anti modern brigade would be foaming at the mouth at the idea of the 387 making a comeback. I'd be surprised if it's either of the first two. It would feel a bit samey so soon after DTG'S ECML, although it sounds like the route is still a long way off. I also think that if they wanted to extend ECML, DTG would want to do it themselves. King's Cross to Cambridge would be a great route. They could reuse both the 387 and the 700 for a mix of different services, and it would be a start on an a proper ECML south for the future. I don't think it needs to go north of Cambridge though, as I stated above. South Wales Mainline has always been in my most requested routes owing to it being local to me. Assuming it's modern (and GWR are willing to play ball) a bi mode 800 would be needed, and presumably a 197 now that the 175s are gone. A 150 would date the route as they ought to be gone soon and aside from that they'd just be kinda underwhelming. A 158 wouldn't be out of place but once all the 197s are in service they should be pretty rare on the line. I know some people dismissed Liverpool to Manchester owing to it's complexity but I wouldn't immediately write it off. We already have Piccadilly and a past version of Lime Street in the game. I know it would still require a lot of work but surely it's better than starting from scratch? Bristol to Birmingham is an interesting proposition. A Voyager would be a smart addition owing to them being all over the country, so massive layer potential for future routes. You could already put them in the likes of Reading, Doncaster, Derby, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Add in a 166 for regional services and maybe a HST (even though XC just lost theirs) and you'd have a pretty varied route.The most complex part of the route is already in the game thanks to BCC. It seems like a no brainer to do it eventually. The Harrogate loop would be a charming route to see, and less daunting a task than the other routes, although I'm not sure what could be reused. Would it really be worth the effort of making a diesel 800 just for Harrogate to Leeds? And wouldn't have to be historic to use the Pacer or 150? Although I'm in no hurry to see Rivet's 150 again. When I was last in York (2 years ago) 170s had a monopoly on the route.
Shame with most of these suggestions is that they will feature new trains, and I believe the info is that the stock is already in game. So It would heavily reduce alot of these options. Could be a Scotrail route?
King's Cross to Cambridge is probably the most likely. It's the only one that would feel complete just with stock already in the game (the 387 and 700, along with the 801 as AI). If it's Scottish then it could be anywhere. The 385s operate lots of different routes in the Edinburgh/ Glasgow area, which makes me doubt it will involve it as it may feel too similar to Rivet's Edinburgh to Glasgow or Cathcart. That leaves the 158 and maybe a short HST. The former could appear on something like Edinburgh to Perth/ Dundee or Inverness to Aberdeen or even a section of the Far North line. I can't see them doing that before the West Highland line though. Glasgow Queen Street to Perth via Stirling would be a smart choice the HST, as a lot of the route is already in the game.
Yesw my thoughts exactly. It will be something West-East around Manchester Lancashire/Yorkshire area.....
Their previous stuff is modern so I'm opting for something that uses the 700, especially as it was prevented from being driven on the ECML/Hertford loop. Actually that would be nice but unlikely. Unless they go for in at the deep end and cut their teeth on Kings X.
This is their first route so I don't think it'll be a long and highly complex one as tempting as having an extension south from Peterborough to Kings Cross would be. So if I was asked to put money on it, I'd go for Kings Lynn to Cambridge. Possibly the dullest line in East Anglia in my opinion but it is at least a route in the Anglia region. A compelling case could be put forward for Peterborough to Cambridge via March using the Class 158 and electric traction on the WAML section. ATS could buck the trend and do Cambridge to Kings Lynn in the early NSE era with 31s, 47s and 101s. There's nothing from the Network South East in TSW3 at the moment, so it would plug a gap. Alan loves Brush locomotives and slam door units. And it appeared in a dream last night.
Another possibility could be Norwich to Ely (Cambridge) or even the Wherry Lines. As regards era, well now JT have tantalised us with the BPO route it is going to be very hard to go back to a fully modern UK line with some type of one handled train.
Given they’ve just spent a lot of time and effort building the Flirt for TSC, I’d put money on it being in and around Norwich and East Anglia. Here’s hoping anyway.
Kings X to Cambridge would have a big attraction. A lot more things to do in comparison to Peterborough to Doncaster. But it is a mighty challenge. If they did create this route, I can see them having a 313 and HST as their choice for trains. Can’t see them using 717s as they are so close to a 700. Layers for the 387s, 700s and 800s for passenger services and 66s for freight means there is a lot to do.
Harrogate loop for TSC wasn't made by or released by ATS. It was a 3rd party developer, On Track Simulations, who released it as freeware (although payware routes etc needed for it). It was needed for the ECML merges. Several routes (inc XC Birmingham - Bristol) may be hosted on the ATS site but they are not developed by ATS and can often be found on the actual creators website if they have one or other host sites. The only routes that I know of that ATS have created themselves are Chat Moss, KX - Kings Lynn and Cambridge - P'boro.
Id quite like this as we have the Peterborough tiles. The line to cambridge was done by them before and whitemoor recycling gives regular freight in addition to normal movement. You also have the cross country service that could layer into BCC. Regular traffic. The 700 could also be used between Ely and Cambridge too
Perhaps they will throw a total curve ball and produce something in the Scottish Highlands, or the Cambrian Coast in Wales…
From what I've seen from TSC, from ATS, they seem to be stronger in and around the northern area of England, mostly, manchester, so, I wouldn't be surprised if this was the same with TSW
