Expert Db Br 101 At A Record High In Sales

(Sorry to the person I nicked this screenshot off)

In just hours, this loco has become the best selling dlc in TSW.

this image just shows, if you put more effort, and way more detail into things, even if it’s more expensive, we are more likely to buy it, because it’s that detailed.


TSG have really made the big bucks here, and rightfully so, I can say, in my opinion anyway, this loco, now that I’ve played it for a bit, is now more clear and apparent that It’s worth £30

well done TSG, and I definitely look forward to more stuff from you

 

I like expert locos and more detailed and in depth stuff to do in general, hope we get more of this in the future. At least one US and one UK expert loco (a class 91 or a freight loco ideally) would be nice for variety.

It is a shame a similar amount of effort and detail wasn't put into steam locomotives though I will gladly pay >£30 for more steam content

 

agreed. I think the numbers are even lower cuz people who just play german trains casually won't buy this dlc like maybe some standard loco. just like my terrible knowledge on american standard stuff I would never immediately buy an expert american loco.

In my honesty the stream could've been better. the dlc had a bad reputation already before it got released and still TSG delivered an impeccable product that in my opinion is worth it on full price if you want a more realistic iconic german loco. after some driving and the tutorials it is totally drivable for any german player who already understands how PZB works and can focus on the other functions like fixing störungen and listening to the great sounds that this DLC has.

If it sells this well with everything it had against it before release than this is the clearest signal DTG can get that indeed. More development time into a properly functioning product that costs more is appreciated by at least the german fanatics. of course expert dlc doesn't cater to everyone but this shows that the first release to test the waters was a great success.

The only thing making it good though in my opinion is not any of the features put in those 18 months. but the promise from TSG to keep updating and supporting the content with fixes in the future. that is the single thing making the product worth it now and in the future. unlike some others, looking at you broken sound 187...

but anyways. another product giving TSG even more reason to be the best third party to date.

 

Surely this is expected: Of course it will sell more in the period they measured (say the week of hours after its release) than any other DLC as this is the first chance people have had to buy it, whereas other DLCs will be lower in this period as most who want those DLCs would have likely already bought it. The figures that will actually matter are the overall sales compared to other DLCs. I don't want the idea to fail at all but similarly throwing pointless statistics about is, well, pointless.

 

It's the latest release. It would be a real worry if it were not the top seller among all dlc's.

 

I'm happy to see people appreciating a higher standard of simulation . The TSG team deserves this.

 

price more than worth for expert 101 dlc, despite some minor bugs its still a tsw masterpiece

 

I’m pleased to see more detailed stuff being brought into the game but this isn’t for me. From what I’ve heard it doesn’t sound like it’s integrated in to the game fully (i.e. no cold and dark starts in service mode, so is ‘expert’ but independently from the rest of the game) and I feel very strongly that basic bugs like no rain on a windshield are literally unforgivable on a product at this price point. Errors like that are just so basic they simply should never happen and there should be bulletproof processes in place to ensure that.

I might pick it up in a sale at some point but probably wouldn’t pay more than £15-£20 for it. As I said though, I’m pleased it exists and pleased people are enjoying it.

ps As Crosstie mentioned, it’s the latest DLC, I would expect it to be high in the sales charts.

 

It is not the fault of TSG, in the stream of trainsimplay (german language) they said that the raindrops where going upside down so to say. It was a core issue. Whatever it was they found the error and there will be a fix in the next patch. They also promised to ever keep this DLC up to the current standard. This is only the beginning for this DLC, not the end.

From our private conversations, I'm very sure this one is for you!

 

Good to see it doing well for those happy to pay £30 to deal with that level of complexity.

Of course what that figure doesn’t show is how many of those sales might have turned into refunds when they get frustrated or can’t get the loco moving, various other little issues we have seen popping up on the forums.

Also taking this as a one shot glimpse does not offer a comparison with other quality DLC, such as the Class 218 or the BPO route from JT. I imagine they hit similar highs on first release.

Those numbers might have been yet higher again, if they had chosen to sell it for £20 rather than £30. The latter which probably represents 75% of the cost of buying TSW5 with at least three new routes and many more new trains including for the UK it looks like two not previously in the game.

 

I have the feeling a lot of people didn't see the stream, didn't read the manual etc. I was prepared very nicely by the stream from Trainsimplay, which is only available in german language.

So my point is, we need much better and more in depth tutorials for locos like this one.

 

Pretty normal that something that's just released tops the sales records. Don't read too much into that. Come back in three months time. Then check sales numbers of the expert 101 and compare to sales of other TSW DLC over their first 3 months. That'll give a more honest picture of how it did.

 

As I said! People seem very eager to talk this up, more so than other equally worthy releases.

 

This is such a specious argument. Yes, they probably would sell more if they charged less but that's true of just about anything where there is a relatively limited market for it. Pricing takes into account a number of factors, including the cost to produce the thing but also how much the intended audience might be prepared to pay for it. I won't be buying it, not because I think it's rubbish (it seems very impressive) or I can't afford it but because I know I won't get the value out of it based on how I play TSW. On the other hand, I'm currently in the market to buy a high-value brass instrument, which I know has something in the region of a 100% markup on it, but I have the ability and experience to get something approaching the best out of it, although I can always be better and the instrument gives me the headroom to do that. However, I wouldn't ordinarily suggest that someone doing a Grade 5 music exam should go out and buy that same instrument because it might actually be detrimental to their development as a player because it's more difficult to play than something that is still decent but is 25% of the price.

 

You can activate the CC and let youtube auto translate it in your desired language. It's not perfect, but it helps

 

Because i feel that your stream was immensely helpful, informative and also a good promotion ill dare to share that link here: https://www.youtube.com/live/7z2iUJQrJtY?si=llYLIdl-OISUAnUZ

Great to heard a lot of insights from Maddy ( hope i pronounced it correct )

 

I must have train driver blood running trough my veins. I'm driving the 101 expert like a champ without opening the manual. Haven't done a lot yet. Ran in some troubles even in non-expert mode but like a real expert solved those problems without having to go trough a 140 page manual.

 

Well done!

I'm sure I will eventually indulge, maybe when a bit of sale discount comes up.

 

I am very happy for the whole TSG team because it is remarkable the great work they have done, also taking a big risk because it was something very new and therefore with a reception from the players that could seem uncertain.
I remember that some forumers predicted a failure because of the price, I'm glad they were not right in their predictions. Hopefully console sales will also be good.

As for me I'm coming back from my trip, this afternoon when I arrive I'll buy it and I'm sure I'll enjoy it a lot during the weekend, I'm looking forward to it!

 

Great to see the positive feedback around this. Hopefully a UK offering will appear at some point and I'll buy in when it does.

Its all about the quality for me. If it looks like it's been made well and will be equally well looked after going forward, then that's a no brainer. It's why I have always been vocal about DTGs fire and forget policy, but also why I'm very willing to support any positive change.

 

Is the manual only in german?

 

ENG: https://media.dovetailgames.com/Man...77.398232227.1722844391-1964588505.1711525856

DE: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AqFr0H1f-v_ZuPErqTyZr5HHl2fSmbxa/view

Taken from: https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/br101-expert-cab-car-manual-and-guide.83421/

 

The manual is available in both English and German
Br101 Expert + Cab-car: Manual And Guide | Dovetail Games Forums

 

No english and german version, both can be found here:
https://forums.dovetailgames.com/threads/br101-expert-cab-car-manual-and-guide.83421/

 

I'm not too sure about the validity of that data, and not convinced about it being a 'record high' or 'best-selling DLC'. Most content sells well early on and then drops off not long afterwards. Since Steam don't release actual sales figures we have to look at the reviews, of which there are only 21 (currently sitting on Mixed) compared to the 58 of the 218. It's not a great method of measuring sales figures, but there isn't a hope in hell that the 101 is the best-selling DLC overall, only in the first few days of its release.

Nobody, even DTG, would expect a niche and very expensive product to be a best-seller. And if it turns out to be, I'd be genuinely shocked. Of course we'll find out if it's deemed a success by DTG if they announce more expert line DLC, but we'll have to wait and see.

 

Nearly 24 hours after steam release, it's still on #72. So it's still performing well.

I've never looked up that stat before, but I'll certainly do when the next DLC is released to have a bit of context to the numbers.

 

Yeah OP has just misinterpreted the data shown (or used a misleading title on purpose), you could replicate this post with any DLC release.

In any case though DTG are weird with developing content based on sales. They’ve repeatedly told us that LGV is the most popular route in the game, but we’ve never seen another TGV, much less another French DLC.

BR Blue was scrapped on account of not selling well, but then a third party comes in and makes it’s inaugural release BR Blue, seems a risky decision?

I suspect that DTG only want to make things that are easy to develop & sell fast. Overtime sales & genuinely interesting projects don’t seem to interest DTG any more. It’s a shame really.

 

Same with "Steam doesnt sell well", which seams its the customers fault now...

 

Yes, right now it seems that the low hanging fruit is the only thing DTG wants to pick.

We'll see if this policy has changed in a couple of weeks. I'm personally not hopeful.

 

I would have thought that the TGV Reseau and extension to Lyon would have been obvious things to make. Both of them are in TS and generally well liked. The extension in particular would have really justified the route in TSW, as you'd have a very pretty route that takes about 90 minutes to complete with a number of stops. It would have been much more interesting than Kassel Wurzburg.

As far as I'm aware DTG has to approve third party partner content based on some metric. I don't know what they look for or what they believe is sellable vs what isn't, but clearly DTG seem to be willing to let other developers do the work on things that they wouldn't try themselves. It isn't a new thing though. While better than they are now, in the TS days they were very specific with what they made, which is why they only ever made one German steam locomotive.

 

Good thing that the web archive has this data (or rather backups of these sites) so:
Class 158 was #688 in the list 2 days after release
Class 380 was #555 in the list 2 days after release
Semmeringbahn was #458 also 2 days after release

We will see tomorrow but I still think that the BR 101 had an exceptionally good launch.

 

A good launch doesn't guarantee overall success though. The three DLC you listed were more minor releases (such as the 158 which seems to have had a particularly indifferent response towards it). I expect that there are a number of people that really wanted the BR101 but the general enthusiasm towards it doesn't seem noticeably higher than most other DLCs, at least from looking at the forums.

 

And where was BPO and the DB BR218 on the lists I wonder, or the admittedly flawed Class 700?

 

BR218 was #292 after 2 days, Class 700 and Blackpool are nowhere to be found though. Also Niddertalbahn was #308 after 5 days (closest I could find).

Also if anyone wants to dig through the data themselves:
https://web.archive.org/web/20240000000000*/https://steamdb.info/stats/globaltopsellers/

 

Well these are just Steam statistics, right? As far I know the most of the TSW players are on consoles (like me), it would be nice to see those stats too. Anyway I’m sure that players who want deeper simulation and beautifly crafted loco/steuerwagon and like German trains bought it already for sure, or will do it right after their payday comes.

 

DTG Matt
i‘d really love to see a ÖBB Railjet Expert DLC.
I love the Expert 101, with all it’s functions and fault management. And the Railjet is at the top of my Wishlist. It could run on Vorarlberg, Salzburg-Rosenheim, Semmering, München-Augsburg and almost any future austrian DLC.
As a Bonus you would also have the ÖBB 1116 as an Expert loco available for all other austrian TSW content (if you do it like TSG and incl. the ÖBB red and Railjet livery)
Edit: added München-Augsburg to the suitable routes

 

Oh my gosh, is that the real Matt Peddlesden??

 

I think there are some good possibilities that might work out. Particularly, I think a German electric freight loco - something like the Br 185.

They are modern enough that you have the same advantage of the 101, that is: they’re full of computers that you can use to (realistically) simulate all kinds of set-up procedures and faults that older locomotives would generally lack. The problem with older locos (that something like a 185 works around) is that fault finding and fixing is often more involved than checking a computer screen and flipping fuses. While I’d love to see that, I imagine it would make development even harder than the 101 must have been.

Why a freight loco? Put simply, we already have one passenger loco now. On top of that, a freight loco would include more playing around with the ZDE etc. since the consists are not standardised unlike IC trains. As mentioned before by others, a freight loco would also not have the problems with duplicate timetables etc. The updated freight physics introduced with DRA back in the day were a major step up. An expert freight loco building on this foundation could truly put German freight up there in simulation. More realistic handling of the train, more fiddling with data screens, and more fun. In addition, there’s also the multi-system capability of (some) 185s that adds more options to a simulation of the computer screens.

Moving away from the something-like-a-185 to an expert 185: I think the 185 would actually be a nice candidate. It would be a direct upgrade of the often used 185 and thus not exclude players that feel the price tag is too steep. A 186 could have been another candidate but then people would “have to” buy an expert loco to get any 186 at all. Doing the 185 is a more elegant solution. A common loco in TSW brought up to proper spec.

While my heart lies with vintage locos, this is where my thinking leads me: an expert Br 185.

 

Expert level RMB, as we were discussing the other day! In all seriousness though I would be happy to pay over the standard price for a BR Classic pack that added a blue (or green) diesel not already in game (won't mention specific types) and some additional Mark One's plus official blue/grey versions to flesh things out a bit.

 

Can't speak for anyone else, but the main thing I would like to see from an expert 31/47/etc is the engine room, all the components of a diesel engine simulated at expert level, and all the different faults that could occur with all that. That is the stuff that personally interests me the most about expert level locos.

I think it would make for interesting gameplay if stuff like oil/fuel leaks could occur, components could overheat or freeze depending on temperature, driving badly could cause damage or wear that could lead to reduced engine power, etc. There could also be graphical/audio stuff like a failed turbocharger leading to more smoke and noise.

 

I’ve already created thread in Suggestions with reasons why Dual mode Vectron (DB Baureihe 249) should be next Expert loco, adding new aspects to Expert line in TSW and why I think it wouldn’t be so hard/expensive to create.

 

I think I have a completely different opinion on this. If you go with something old like a BR 155 or BR 151 that doesn't have advanced traction control, etc. You can really get to feel the advanced physics and system simulation as well as having more opportunities for detailed sound design (more stuff happening). Both of which go a long way in making a good piece of rolling stock.

Modern stuff will just always feel a bit boring and easy because that's how it is in the real world.

 

Hard to say with the earlier diesels as there wasn't really much in the way of electronic trickery that you get on more modern locos. Probably need to look at something like the now withdrawn AP Class 40's for TSC but even that was essentially just a start up procedure, though you did have control over the fan grilles on the side of the loco. Think you might have been able to isolate traction motors. ISTR an Alco in TSC which could overheat and shut down if you worked the loco too hard for too long. You could throw in steam heating but not sure whether that really constitutes "expert" in the sense of what the DB101 is offering. I mean the UK Classic diesels we have are already done to a pretty high standard anyway. And as I mentioned in another thread, when these old locos failed it was often very much the case of calling for an assisting loco as there was very little the driver could do. Even taking the case of isolating a traction motor, it was usually the case the train could work forward to the first location where the loco could be taken off for a fresh engine, or topped with another to avoid stressing the remaining motors.

 

Well, the big pro of an older loco is that you need to diagnose the fault correctly, not just follow a step-by-step guide presented on a computer screen to fix it.

The big con of an older loco also is that you need to diagnose the fault correctly, not just follow a step-by-step guide presented on a computer screen to fix it.

 

I completely agree on a personal level. I was just thinking that on an economic level, building modern expert locos has its advantages. Both in the sim and in the real world (life immitates art and all that), the computers have streamlined fault finding/fixing. Though that is not to say that the computers are not a headache in real life. Having worked on the real deal, I can tell you that they cause just as much trouble as they help fix.

So, you can concentrate on the computer systems a lot with modern expert locos while older locos are more diverse in this regard. The fault fixing in particular might be troublesome since the solutions back in the day were more involved. I distinctly recall tales of the use of wooden wedges on 110/140s… I’m neither a bean counter nor a programmer though, so that was just what came to mind.

Come to think of it, sound recording is another thing. Given all the detailed recordings in the new 101, any other expert loco would still need to be in service, I reckon. Still doable for a 151, a 140 already gets a little trickier (rarer) and once you reach 141s, it starts becoming a real challenge. Same deal with finding experienced drivers to help you.

That being said, I’ve long made a case for the 140 in TSW and if she ever came as an expert loco on top…

 

There's a lovely old DR video that shows some fault finding and fixing procedures on a 155, as an example of what that might be like.

 

I would like to see this as a perfect opportunity to maybe rework some older content. The 146 and the 143 are two of the day 1 work-horses for german content in TSW. Both would deserve an overhaul, so why not making these at Expert-standard?

 

I would second this! Freight would be the next logical step and I would love it

However, I would actually go for a more modern loco. I would love to see some kind of dual mode locomotive, as it would allow you to do shunting in remote areas (or even not so remote areas like the Aschaffenburg harbour) as well and would allow you to extend game play quite a bit.

There are some options out there nowadays. Personally I would favour a Vectron again, of which we already have a nice representation in game.