Simrail Vs Tsw Route Dlc Price Comparison

Well the new SimRail extension to Lodz has just released, over 100km (60 miles) of route for £10.99 but with an initial release purchase discount of 10% bringing it down to just £9.89. Think there's also a reskinned EN57 included as part of the package.

Compare that to the £30 being asked for the tiny and poorly finished Cardiff network or other DLC's in general. And never a pre-order discount any more.

And they've also just updated the base game with a 50Gb core update addressing many player issues and bug reports.

 

Sounds like DTG could learn a lot from them .

 

Vote with your wallets folks…its the only way things are going to improve!

 

Don't worry I will be voting with my wallet, I'll be giving DTG the biggest wad of cash they're asking for because I'll be buying the most expensive version of the next TSW episode......

 

That’s great and all but can’t really change over due to it being pc only, still waiting for trainz simulator world tour on Xbox which was announced 4 months ago

 

Can’t even defend DTG no more.

 

It has no game save. Though it looks impressive it makes it a bit unplayable especially for people that do not have time all day.

 

Well yes there are still the caveats but running in MP is not the end of the world and when the company is releasing DLC for that sort of price , which looks to have as much if not more love poured into it than any TSW route, it is well worth supporting.

For me, DTG will be forever marked by their lackadaisical response to Cardiff Central not having any textures on the station front or a useable subway between the platforms. Build low and sell high, SimRail - build high quality and sell at a low customer friendly price.

 

Unless and until Simrail has a meaningful singleplayer mode, no dice.

 

But you're still just driving the same 3 trains over and over, except now also to Lodz....meh.

Sorry i just find it extemely repetitive. No save means running freight is impossible unless you have all day to spare.

If the long-rumored US route ever appears i'll give it another try, but for now i'm staying on the sidelines.

 

And that is exactly why Simrail isn't a worth competitor at all. If you don't have a singleplayer mode and lack of rolling stock that gets extremely repetitive really quickly, and not to mention no console ports then... Simrail doesn't really have a leg to stand on at the moment. Simrail is honestly just okay at best, but nowhere near a worthy competitor

 

So an entirely different and waaay smaller studio made a dlc for 100km extra track with a reskined loco and all that for 10 bucks and a wait time of over 1 year? sounds horrible, i hope DTG continues with its amount of releases.
And what should they be ashamed off? You want DTG to go bankcrupt just to pay 20 bucks less?

 

Yes, for these two reasons I won't be switching just yet.

But DTG management needs some real competition to give them some incentive to either shape up or ship out and give another team a chance to advance the game.

There's an air of complacency due to a virtual monopoly which is holding the game back. After 8 years we should be a lot further along with a broader range of traction and a wider geographical reach. TSW seems to be shrinking rather than expanding.

If SimRail or a combination of it and other developers can challenge TSW for available players and their moolah, we'll all be the better for it.

 

About that by the way, easy workaround is to just join a completely dead server. I don't think I've seen North America be populated by more than maybe 6 people at best so you won't run into any issues for the most part.


For the rest, yeah I frankly do agree that DTG really ought to change their pricing strategies because for one, they're barely introducing new trains of the current era and second, even for shorter routes they're still charging an arm and a leg.

 

Sounds quite similar to high quality releases in TSW, like the JT Blackpool Branches or WCML Preston - Carlisle (or even NLL by one person!)

 

As a simrail enjoyer I cannot fully agree with the sentiment
1)It doesnt include a new train (havent had a new train introduced for a year, dont count the steam engine as it isnt available in MP and the scenarios are a ghost town)
2)the scenery is just fields (Lodz looks like a village with two skyscrapers)
3)they developed this for the professional simulator so they are pretty much double dipping here
4)a Polish company wont have the same running costs as an English one
5)if you consider this to be so great why not compare it to say the Dutch route which is of similar length and includes two new trains?

 

For as long as it took them to give us another 100kms we could have gotten triple that and more variety from DTG.

Yes the the price is great but its also justified as you really don't get much anyways.

So I don't see anything DTG should be ashamed of.

 

If it sticks around hopefully that is, TSW has a bit of a track record of adding a new country and then being unable to revisit either due to licensing issues or lack of interest.
(I acknowledge that those two reasons are partially out of DTG's control.)

 

TSW still maintains an edge over most other simulators... Also UE4 seems like a more sophisticated and comlex gaming engine to navigate compared to SimRails, so hats of to DTG and some of the developers in this game for that. However, how long TSW will be able to maintain that 'edge' with its current trajectory and with the ongoing core issues saga, is yet to be scene... It has the upper hand at the moment with no real competition, but that can be easily changed if DTG aren't careful.

For all TSWs faults, it still comes out ontop in most cases (In my opinion).

 

DTG will learn the lesson badly and to a time where its already far too late to fix anything about the missing or lost customers.

"Tsw doesnt sell well..."

Not listening to their loyal customers over years put the final nail in the coffin. And this has already happened. Instead of fixing and solving core issues, DTG makes the mess bigger and bigger.

Tsw needs a seperate harddisk just for all of the cloned vehicles of the same type, which come with the different dlcs.
Dtg focuses on a big hype, and lacks with quality on many of their own routes.

The fact that they blindly underestimate their competition is a very bad sign.

As a customer, i really have no problem to make space for another title of train sim, especially when its more promising.

 

Appreciate the debate and responses.

I have changed the thread title to something less provocative!

And yes there are good routes in TSW, Mittenwaldbahn, the Dutch route with two new trains was probably worth the asking price, even if it did start to get boring after a few runs. However there is also the not so good of which Cardiff is the most recent and extreme example, with excuses being trotted out as to why for £30 they couldn’t even be bothered to fully make the main station on the route.

Then there’s the fact that the TSW DLC is being pushed out onto a core which they seem to have little idea how to fix or improve.

As regards the SimRail business model, then yes costs may well be less in Eastern Europe plus the fact the programme is a spin off from a professional application. However to be brutally honest that’s not the problem for the end customer who wants good quality content at a reasonable price. We don’t know for sure that DTG haven’t been outsourcing to cheaper areas such as Eastern Europe or Asia for some of the content production or even core programming but if so that hasn’t been reflected in prices which, if anything, have increased over the last two years along with scrappage of the pre release purchase discount.

Anyhow bottom line is, buy and enjoy whatever route you want in whatever sim you enjoy. But I will be thinking long and hard before parting with +-£30 for a Day One TSW release in future.

 

Do you have any proof for that statement?

How's that meant? How are they underestimating their competition? Who exactly is the competitor? Because Simrail certainly isn't. For these reasons:

1. As long as Simrail doesn't develop a german, UK or US route, there isn't a lot of overlap between costumers. Sure, some people who like german trains are also interested into polish trains. But let's be honest: The big majority of players prefers trains from their own country (exceptions prove the rule). Sure, Simrail announced Dresden-Görlitz, but that as like 2 years ago and since then there wasn't any real news at all. And same thing for the US DLC.
2. TSWs biggest strength is imo the single player timetable mode. Sure, the fact Simrail has a nicely working MP is a great strength of the game, but the absence of single player mode is equally a big weakness. Not everyone wants to engage in social interaction, especially if you use your game for escapism.
   
3. The rolling stock situation in Simrail. While i absolutely acknowledge that TSW also has problems in that field, it looks worse in simrail as stated by yansel#5383 .

 

Buy (almost) all dlcs you want only on sales, this is the way i go whit new routes, the thing i will buy a full price Is the cargo pack vol 3 for more 66 services

 

I have said many times we are getting less for more cost with TSW. The excuse book voices come back and say 'it's harder to develop for' and 'people got bills'. Ok but the bottom line is it's gone from massive networks and loads of rolling stock to less and less. Excuses don't make and entertaining experience. Simrail probs getting bought soon!

 

Yeah no its not the same in any way.
Im saying over 1 year of development for that being the only thing to release within 1 year. Not to mention the quality is way worse and not nearly close to the quality of Jts or TSGs products as the route itself is only bland and similar looking flatland over the entire 100km. Not to mention Simrail didnt release new rolling stock with it but only a reskin.

 

Not that I'm buying anything for TSW at the moment. But at least you get a full timetable with TSW. Overall TSW has far more variety than Simrail.

Simrail needs more variety and a better single player experience for me to be interested in it. I have no interest in multiplayer.

I'll stick to TSC with the odd TSW purchase whilst things are as they are currently.

I wonder what happened to train planet as thst looked promising!

 

I believe the studio was Ukranian and most of the devs were / are fighting for their country.

 

Yes it’s a good price but for me TSW is still better than most other simulators. I do think £30 is a little bit steep but the Skyhook Cargo Line volumes are reasonable priced at £10. However it is what it is, if you think it’s overpriced you don’t have to wait long for a sale.

Not sure whether to venture into SimRail just yet as what is coming soon on the Roadmap for me is quite exciting.

 

I guess they got license problems. Because of the RRX branding of the Desiro HC. Didn't hear anything from them since the open beta.

 

I purchased SimRail about a year ago because of the roadmap, but not much has happened. I am only interested in US content and was hoping Searchlight Simulation's route and loco would have been here by now. Wish I would have waited being the single player experience is severely lacking to say the least. I never play it and consider it a waste of money at this point.

 

I don't have Sim Rail and don't plan on getting it... but it sounds like it's JUST track, no new stock, and it doesn't have all the support of timetables and scenarios and such? Sounds like it's VERY stripped down compared to TSW then.
If DTG offered that level people would scream bloody murder and claim they should be "ashamed of themselves" for not giving us a new loco and such.
60 miles of track with less scenery, no scenarios, no timetable, no rolling stock.... yeah DTG could probably do that for $10.... but would fans buy it? They seem to be VERY different games so they aren't comparable.
Using basically the same stock, same signals, all the same assets over and over is a LOT easier than doing entirely different countries, let alone rolling stock, assets, etc.
And porting to console is not easy.
It's like creating a new game.
It can pay off in increased sales, but that's why most train sims don't do it... requires a whole new team and lots of reprogramming.

Lots of angry folks on their forum too hating on "game developers being greedy" like this guy:
https://forum.simrail.eu/topic/9522-shame-on-this-game-and-its-developers/
No raildriver, no livery designer, no train editor, no timetables, no scenarios, not much variety, etc and the usual "how dare they charge us all this money!"
Can't please everybody.
I'm happy for the people who like Polish Electric multi-player, but it holds no appeal to me.
It's not really a good "comparison" though since they aren't really "comparable."
The same standards aren't applied to both for that to be the case.

 

Ah okay I hadn't realised. I assumed they were German.

 

A shame as it did look promising.

 

https://mezha.media/en/articles/int...r-ukrainian-games-that-few-people-know-about/
We have been working on another simulator for several years - Train Planet. It was a very cool project that showed great promise, and the demo version received very positive feedback, but unfortunately, after weighing the pros and cons and our real capabilities as a small company, we had to put this project on hold for now.

Train Planet has a very serious competitor to Train Sim World 5 with a bunch of old and new add-ons, and a large community. This game is being developed by a powerful company and a large team, and their work has long been put on a conveyor belt. We really realized that we are not ready to compete yet.

 

Forgive me but what do you mean by no singleplayer model? Doesn’t it have the facility to pick up a service and just drive along?

When I queried it, they replied and said they had both single and multiplayer modes with dispatcher mode only being multiplayer. I’m not quite sure what they mean by dispatcher mode and how it all works. It sounds convoluted and that currently puts me off wanted to buy.

 

Singleplayer mode in Simrail is more like scenarios in TSW, you have them few just to get to know the route and the new rolling stock.
The 24h timetable mode in Simrail is multiplayer, here you can be driver or dispatcher.

 

Bit unfair this no?
The Lodz Dlc offers 9 SP scenario's of which 1 is a trainspotter one (with multiple locations possible to chose). All the scenario's offer you to chose which train you want to drive at what time of year and day. Which is more what TSW offers as those are fixed stock.
No rolling stock, well yeah we only got a repaint for the EN57 but let's not forget that TSW recycles the same stock often as well (also licensing)
And Timetable, yeah it is quite a busy on the MP servers. Almost 500 trains a day got added to the already big timetable of about 1000 trains.
So yeah it seems DTG can learn something about pricing of content

 

Dispatcher is being the signaller/dispatcher. That is a massive plus on all platforms. No simulation has offered both signalling and driving before. Doesn't seem to be acknowledged in posts above. One of my personal issues with TSW is the rigid dispatching by the game engine. Not realistic.

 

Obviously Simrail has its enthusiastic proponents and detractors. I really hope it progresses into some real competition for TSW.

But as my main problem with TSW is its lack of US freight content, I'll have to wait until that hole is filled before I can seriously consider Simrail. Let's hope it's not too long in coming.

 

As soon as Sim Rail gets a console release, TSW will have serious competition.

 

Run 8 does both.
It also does US freight (and AMTRAK)
Expect prices to rise if SimRail goes to console.

 

Only if they move beyond the same region of Poland.

 

Yes it does indeed. Run 8 though looks a bit dated, like Zusi for example.

 

Yes, but it may be good enough to tempt some people anyway. I have no real interest in rail outside the UK. I have many US/DE routes on TSW that have effectively zero playtime and little nominal interest in Polish railway at all, yet at the moment it's ticking many more boxes for me than TSW. TSW 5 Last played December 7th 2024......SimRail I'll be playing tonight.

 

It depends. The original routes from 10 years ago in the base game yes. The latest ones this year look pretty nice. Not quite TSW standards, but pretty good. A lot more detailed in some ways than TSW (whole branch lines on comparable TSW routes don't exist at all) and operational too (the dispatching, the sidings with actual industries who actually fill, cars in determined time windows, etc)
TSW is a bit more "polished" (and Sim Rail seems to be too) but I'd still say for a "simulation" Run 8 beats them both.
Again, haven't played Sim Rail only seen gameplay and it is a different focuis (US Freight vs Polish passenger), but the Sim Rail limited freight seems more TSW-style instead of detailed sidings and operational info, let alone proper physics.
It's all down to what you're looking for.
The whole dev team for Run 8 is maybe 5-6 guys and they keep busy making constant improvements, they keep improving older routes (a bit, not total overhauls, but functionally they work without bugs and assets improved as better stuff comes online), and there is a third-party that is doing the Southeast region so that basically doubles route production per year.
As far as the OP goes though, a DLC for Run 8 is usually either $40 for a huge route (hundreds of miles of track) or $20 for a smaller DLC (branch lines or cargo packs) As I said though, it's a lot less "linear" in some ways than TSW or Sim Rail. You get more networks, more branches, more sidings, so the actual amount of usable track and assets is a bit higher.
Even they don't do $10 DLC. I think Sim Rail has a few things in their favor. They're a "labor of love" not a proper business, they are more linear, they have much less rolling stock, and they can keep reusing the same regional assets ("Polish House #5 is pretty similar even if it's 50 km away, as opposed to styles from different states or countries)
Run 8 you can also use most of the rolling stock out of the box, albeit without the correct "livery" so you generally just have to buy the "liveries" if you want for looks later. That unlocks a HUGE amount of rolling stock (if you're willing to put up with blank cars and locos without company liveries) until you determine if you like it or not.

Long way of saying the same thing I guess.... they're not directly comparable so the prices aren't comparable. SimRail is giving you a much more limited product for that lower price. That's fine if you only want that limited product, but saying you need to get more from others for the same low price is unfair.

It's like saying a Motorcycle, a Toyota, a Ferrari and a Bus are all "wheeled vehicles" so they need to be the same price.
But they're not the same thing at all.

 

To be fair, I have been rotating between 5 different train sims because they all have different aspects I like, but none has "most" of the boxes in one place. Sim Rail seems to have no "box" I need to tick, so no interest.
No US/UK.
No diesel.
Little freight.
Little true operations (for example you don't have to sort freight trains from what I've seen)
No progression (money, dynamic economy, level, skills, etc)

It had other things of course (passengers, okay graphics, relatively low cost, electrics) but those aren't really all that appealing so I don't see any use in getting it. It's worth it to me to spend a few bucks more and get something I'd actually play.

 

The game takes up almost 400gb on my hard drive!

 

A couple of things - there's a LOT of Freight but no shunting as far as I have seen.
There is levelling progression and separate experience gating for dispatching.

 

Yes it is. JT only release one route per year, with only this year getting a new train.

I havent seen the route so I can't comment on its quality, but for a tenner getting a whole extension and reskins is a steal.

 

All food for thought, the dispatcher mode in Simrail interests me as do the old Polish Electric Locos. Never really taken too much to American freight although enjoyed Maria's Pass back in the day on MSTS and Clinchfield on TSW.