NOT interested in steam being in TSW. There's dozens and dozens of those threads. Instead, I'm curious what people think IS the best steam simulation out there? What does "accurate" look like? Non-TSW Games I've played with steam Train Sim Classic Railroader Railroads Online Derail Valley Am I missing any? Who has the "best" implementation? What makes it better than others? Does "realistic" make a "fun" game? (Most games have some level of "game" to them to make them "fun" even simulators. If you don't enjoy it, you won't keep coming back to it in the end.)
There’s now a steam loco in SimRail you can try. Physics seemed okay but sound came across as very synthesised and unrealistic. Plus of course all the MSTS stuff, though I finally laid that to rest the other day in a clear out. Binned all the add on discs and deleted off the PC. No interest running it, not even in Open Rails. Oh and a quirky pair that people might not be generally aware of. Back in the days of Densha de Go, Taito did a spin off steam version called Kisha de Go for the PS1. Tomy also did a game called SL de Ikou which simulated the heritage steam operation on Hokkaido. Both good in their day if arcade orientated and you either needed a Japanese PS1 to run them on or hack up the UK one to get round the regional protection as they were released for the Japan market only. I also seem to recall a fledgling South African simulation. It had a Garret loco and ran round an endless loop of track. A proof of concept that sadly didn’t go anywhere. Trainz also has steam, but always a mixed success on that platform. Going back to the days of the text based sims, Simudrive had a go at steam simulation. You also had an odd little programme called Steam Express. IIRC the Train Driver 3 game which had to run in an Amiga emulator on PC also had a couple of steam locos.
Did you happen to have any of the old UKTrainsim online ordering CD's in that pile of discs? I've been trying to hunt down the SVR Diesel Gala CD but that seems to have become as extinct as the dinosaur.
Never got that one, sadly. The rest of the discs were away with the fortnightly rubbish collection yesterday.
No worries, I've kind of given up on that one anyways due to its obscurity lol. You're a better man than I for ditching your old MSTS discs Vern, I don't have the heart to get rid of my old DVD-case add-ons. I know my parents spent a ton of money just in Royal Mail postage just to get the damn things over here for birthdays and Christmases when I was a teen; I'd feel bad parting from them mostly on a sentimental basis. I've actually thought about framing the DVD-case copies for my future train room once we find a house; you got to admit the old JT, MakingTracks, and Aerosoft/Europeanbahn covers were pretty eye catching.
Nothing else modern for me for steam (or other train sims in general) I'm afraid, aside from TSC and MSTS/OR. The others out there just don't quite appeal to me.
Love/hate with Simrail currently uninstalled as, funnily enough, is TSC. None railway stuff, well Snowrunner though I haven't touched it for a bit. The two SCS truck sims. Mass Effect Legendary Edition. Various rally games. Not currently installed though one of my top 5 games of all time has to be Fallout 4.
I admittedly haven't played either SCS much lately. I keep meaning to go back since there's so much new content, but there's only so much time =-) Spent some time on the new Railroads Online map and DCS. Other than that space games.
I can only speak to what I've played, but I find Derail Valley to have what I THINK is the most "accurate" steam physics/controls. Not the most "fun" to me mind you, but some of that comes down to the game around the loco too. You can't really "stretch her legs" in DV with the small map and all the curves, but "fun" is a very personal, subjective thing. Realism though, DV seems to be to be the best currently on the market. Thoughts?
Does anyone still play Open Rails? Ran across it the other day in videos and it looked like it was roughly TSC standard (admittedly that has quite a bit of range of quality) Is it worth a try or is TSC just as good?
I do on occasion mainly to justify retaining my collection of MSTS content. I wouldn't say one is better than the other, they each have their own advantages and disadvantages. I tend to play OR more for nostalgic reasons and to experience content not available elsewhere, TSC I play for a slightly more modern simming experience and better visuals. All that said, I haven't played much of anything lately, TSW included. I sprained my MCL popping my knee out on the ice a few weeks ago and it hurts to sit in a computer chair or my recliner for too long. I'm just now at the point where I can walk normally again with a basic knee brace on. The plus side to that is I haven't had a chance to experience the plethora of core related and quality assurance issues everyone else is at the moment lol
I play regularly and haven't seen them. *shrugs* The forum being what it is, you tend to mostly see complaints. The people having a good experience don't usually post about it.
TSW I play on the Xbox, which I have found to be lacking in quality control as of late. I had a chance to play through some of the training center scenarios the other night and three of the most recent releases had texture and dialog glitches. When TSW4 released I think there was a solid month that went by before I could load the game with DLC installed without it crashing to the home screen. If my PC could handle it I'd consider switching since that seems to get the more stable releases, but even after replacing everything but the case and the motherboard I don't think my poor decade old Lenovo could handle it lol.
Yea, it's a LOVE shoot. I have had to replace consoles every few years. I'm honestly impressed the people using early Gen 8 consoles got them to last this long. Seem to get 3-5 years from a console before it dies. People saying they are using a system over 12 years old is just astounding to me.
I've been pretty lucky with my Series X. I managed to snag one in 2021 when they were a royal PIA to get a hold of and it's treated me well. I made sure to invest in the Seagate 1TB card (although I'll have to graduate to the 2TB version sooner than later) and elite controller at the same time. I'm definitely more of a casual gamer and use it more to watch streaming services, so it's not like I'm really stressing it out either. I stick to games like TSW, Flight Sim, Forza, Star Wars Outlaws & Battlefront II, Snowrunner, etc. I used to play the older Halo and COD games online but I've slowed down in my old age and can't keep up with the cracked out twitch skills of kids today lol. My wife inherited my old One X when I upgraded to the Series X, a console I originally bought in 2018. We keep it hooked up to the bedroom TV so she can play if the living room one is occupied. It still works pretty well, but it is for sure starting to show it's age. I tried loading up TSW4 on it at one point last year, and after waiting for what seemed like ages the game finally loaded up with some horrible textures that took just as long to smooth out. My wife refuses to play Hogwarts Legacy on it anymore because it takes so long to load, and I think the only game she plays on it now is Dreamlight Valley. It's crazy what a difference of only a few years makes in computing power, especially when the One X was the top of the line console at the time. Even older is my PC, an old Lenovo IdeaCentre 710 I bought new back in 2016. It's been a real solid computer for me and does exactly what I need it to do. About five years ago I gave it a total revamp, upgrading to an EVGA Gold power supply, maxed my memory out to 128GB, replaced the stock GPU with a 1650 Super, converted my HDD to a good Samsung SSD, and bumped my processor up to an i7 6700K. The only real hiccup I ran into was misjudging how far the fan on the new CPU cooler would stick out, and ended up having to take the side panel to work to cut a square out of it with the angle grinder. I glued a grid of mesh over the hole and we were back in business lol. At this point I'm held back by the factory motherboard, but I really don't mind. The most intensive games my PC runs are TSC with various AP upgrades and visual mods, and a few RTS games like Empire at War (modded), Gal Civ IV, and Sins of a Solar Empire. The rest of the stuff I play is all early 00's nostalgic games. At some point I'd like to build a new PC with an AMD processor and RGB the holy hell out of everything with a clear side panel, but for now my old girl runs like a charm. And to top all of that off, I have an N64 and a GameCube that I still dabble with from time to time. Both have been refurbed, and have HDMI upscalers and wireless Xbox-style controllers. The GameCube literally only plays both of the Rogue Squadron sequels, the N64 plays Rogue Squadron, Battle for Naboo, Shadows of the Empire, and StarFox. If those games ever get re-released for modern consoles I'll probably ditch the old Nintendo systems, but for now they fill a purpose despite being old enough to drink lol.
