Hi all, today I was playing a freight service on Riesa - Dresden, and thought to myself that the last two German releases have made me feel listened to, being a mostly German player. Before Riesa - Dresden there was a lot of critique, reaching a boiling point aroung Hamburg - Lübeck, which had good scenery but uninspiring rolling stock and gameplay, suffered from low traffic at both it's endpoints, especially Hamburg Hbf, and was very buggy at release, with PZB not being anywhere near a releasable state. Especially the re-use of this time also inappropriate dostos was a point of hatred towards DTG. This frustration got even worse when the previously announced Dresden - Riesa S-bahn branches got cut. All this started nearly a year ago now. The community wanted routes that provided something new, and I think that DTG has set the right course with Dresden - Riesa and Dresden - Chemnitz, and I shall talk about each route briefly. Dresden - Riesa provided a network-like route, and the later (re-)addition of the Meißen branch brought this home. It's (re-)addition itself was a sign of feedback being understood and listened to. Overall the route failed to provide new rolling stock, to the dissapointment of many, but the re-used rolling stock included was greatly overhauled and improved, providing a new standard for releases going forwards. The timetable, although bugged on release, has proven one of the greates in TSW thusfar. It is full of hustle and bustle and provides the player with an astounding array of freight, local and express passenger services. The route itself was also exceptionally well made (although I truly hope this won't be an exception going forwards). Every bit of it feels 'full', there is none of the emptiness that some other routes can show. There are many neat details, and the overall mood of the route is really well-set. In the regards of the overall mood and feel of the route this is the first route that surpassed RSN in my opinion. All in all, a fantastic route, that shows quite a bit of feedback being taken on board (especially in the overhaul of the timetable to include way more freight and the re-addition of the Meißen branch). Then there's Dresden - Chemnitz. This route presents a clear answer to a number of demands. Firstly it's the first route in a while to not be a straight-ish mainline, being slow and curvy with challenging gradients. Moreover it finally introduced an all-new item of rolling stock: the magnificent BR 612 DMU, which also answers to the demand of some German diesel content outside of shunters. Lastly, it also included a new operator, RailPool. A thing I personally also really enjoy is the filled sidings, especially at Dresden-Altstad, where I can just look at the array of parked trains for a few minutes. This is an important step towards making the route feel very alive. This rural masterpiece is a clear show that DTG is capable of listening to the demand for something that's not a 160 km/h mainline. Furthermore it intruduced tilting and GNT to the game, adding hours of fun. But of course all that is nothing without great scenery, and this route truly delivered on that. Just like Dresden - Riesa, this route is full of atmosphere, and doesn't feel empty in any places. It presents a beatiful area of Germany with a thin veneer of DDR nostalgia. Of course this route failed to deliver a much desired new Dosto cab car, but overall this can be overlooked. Now for the future. No German route has been announced to come at the moment of writing. Perhaps it will be a Spirit of Steam route, but I doubt that (I think DTG will use the first route to work out the kinks, waiting a bit for another steam release). I truly hope however that the new route will follow in the footsteps of the last two German releases. I hope it will provide an original experience with a well-authored timetable and great scenery. Hopefully it includes new rolling stock or maybe even an all-new operator, as long as it doesn't focus on red Dostos again... There is a lot of potential out there, and many aspects of German railways not yet portrayed. Of course I don't expect all my personal wishes (such as a '90s route, or one from the Netherlands) to be met, but I feel like DTG onceagain has a great oppertunity to listen to the communities demands and desires, and stun them with another great route. We'll see what the future holds .
