Hello, newbie here Just looking at both games and wondering what the difference is? I see TSW 2020 has 15 DLC on Steam (I've noted the fact the others listed are included in the Digital Deluxe version), but TS 2020 has an eye-watering almost 600! I've never played either game before but I've really gotten into watching train cams online so wanted to try one of the games and found these when doing my searching. Thanks in advance...
Hello! Well, both games are train driving simulators, both are from Dovetail. They're basically two different generations of simulators. Which one is better suited for you, really depends on what you look for in a train simulator: TS2020 is the most recent version of a much older series of games. The graphics aren't as nice, you can't get out of the train, but in turn, it has lots and lots of additional content (routes, trains,...), thanks to having existed so much longer. TSW is newer, hence there are not so many routes/trains available as of now. The star at the party is the graphics and insane amount of visual detail - the price of which being that you need a fairly powerful PC to enjoy it fully, and the content that does exist, tends to be more pricy as well compared to TS20xx. TSW also allows/requires you to get out of you driver's seat and cab, walk around and explore the outside world.
I started with TS2019 and were ... overwhelmed. Didn't play more than 10 hours and felt really lost most of the times. Then I gave TSW a try and play almost nothing else since, 500 hours recorded. I joined when half of the DLC wasn't there so it was "cheap to catch up" - there are Deluxe Editions with many routes already included. In TSW the learning curve feels more doable since you gradually decide, which aids you remove or what additional difficulties you want to add without overwhelming you too much. And it looks crisp, got me much immersion ...
Looks like the other posters have covered most of the bases, I'd just add that TSW is also available on Xbox1 and PS4, while TS20xx is not. If your computer isn't up to snuff to run TSW (this is why I play on Xbox), and you have one of those consoles, it's another option for you. The only route not available on consoles is the CSX:Heavy Haul. All current DLC comes out at the same time on all platforms.
I don't have TSW so I'll not presume to compare the two but TS has the edge when it comes to choice at the moment. Over 100 routes and hundreds of loco's and other items of rolling stock- of varying quality to be sure but there's been ten years or so of development so that's to be expected. That disregards a huge amount of third-party goodies BTW. The clincher for some may be steam- there's no kettles to drive in TSW yet. TSW needs a pretty pokey system to work well while TS will get by on lesser hardware- I was running it quite satisfactorily on a £200 second hand laptop until the end of last year. It's worth mentioning that TS can be very cheap to get into and there's no technical reason not to have both. TSW will get me one day (probably quite soon looking at the BR Blue era routes) but I don't imagine I'll give up on TS when that day comes.
