General North American 3rd Party News (non Dramatic Version)

Sorry, but I respectfully disagree. If we don't hold the developers countable for putting put decent content on steam, then it shouldn't be released at all.

Remember when the DTM P40DC broke on livestream?

We also can't really count on DTGs Quality control anymore. Remember when they released a patch for TSC that deleted the game?

Just cause there is more doesn't mean it's better. It means less work is put into those products.

Reppos GP60M reflects this, it was probably one of, if not his lowest quality products not a contract work for DTG.

Also we keep going thru this cycle every few weeks.

-Something releases/gets teased
-Errors are pointed out
-Other state nothing is wrong/rivet counting
-Arguments get heated
-Thread gets a warning from DTG, and/or simmers down.

Rinse repeat.

 

whatever makes your hunter gatherer instincts itch and your credit card fluid, the more money spend by you the better
going over my Steam DLC, it seems about 2/3 of the USA routes are 'passes', which means I've more than enough of going up the mountain and down the mountain routes
if you keep accepting the same trodden and mediocre DLC as satisfactory, I am happy for you, since it seems this is the preferred modus.
Going over the Steam Workshop, the amount of player scenarios is sort of indicative of the appreciation/reception of a certain DLC, since actual sales date and scenario's played count is unavailable.
I for one wouldn't be sorry if certain developers leave the franchise since they seem incapable of improving their standards, it might provide incentive for new developers to try and realise their ambitions

 

All this arguing seems like bald men fighting over a comb! TSC is clearly on the way out. In a year to 18 months it wouldn't surprise me if there are no payware developers left, or any that remain produce relatively low quality products because there aren't enough buyers to support the development hours needed for anything better.

Wake up! The recent products are as good as you're going to get. Learn to love them or learn to do without.

 

Searchlight Simulations
Smokebox
Diesel Workshop (On hold)
Machine Rail

All of these devs still make payware content of good quality for TSC.

Only developer that seemed to have disappeared is Travel By Train, haven't heard anything from him in awhile.

 

Are we talking about routes or rolling stock? I personally don’t care about the rolling stock. I would prefer to see more US network coverage. I can always swap out rolling stock.
Respectfully

 

"the other board"? If you are referring to RWA I can assure you that the only time anything is "sanitized" is when people post things that are personal attacks or snotty remarks that have no purpose other than to hurt individuals or groups. Insulting people might be a enjoyable hobby for some but mostly just diminishes the person posting such trash. The moderators on here could take a lesson about that.

 

Hear hear. You are right on. But it's so much more fun to moan and complain about everything. Like someone said a while back when it comes to USA stuff if you said the sky was blue some would say it looks black to them.

 

High Iron Sims are still going as well, we were talking about their next route in this thread just recently.

Trains & Drivers haven't done anything since Alaska AFAIK though.

 

Because Trains & Drivers was Great Northerner (Michael). Alaska was a collaboration with Milepost (Jonathan), T&D mostly released german stuff before (Scenario packs, rolling stock) on their own webshop a decade ago.

All the routes you're playing are basically from the same people, whether branded as HIS, T&D, GNTX, G-TraX, whatever. Some of them were involved in DTG routes also. Exception is old Cajon Pass which was done by those who now make Run 8.

I don't care if Gary writes "pompous" articles, it doesn't affect the gameplay. I know DTM makes amateurish stuff (with technical errors and wrong blueprints), but he had no competition. I rather have a large fleet that can then be improved than nothing. What's a Searchlight locomotive worth when you'll run into trouble as soon as their key validation server goes down eventually and you're changing hardware. AP don't need such shenanigans.

 

That is objectively false. If you say any message on RWA that has even a hint of criticism, several individuals (yourself being the primary perpetrator) will immediately personally attack you for no reason other than you criticizing. The only time you delete posts and ban users is when they disagree with you. If you felt personal attacks were something that should be deleted, then you should delete about half of your own messages, because thats all they are. And look at your own messages here—most of them are personal attacks with no substance to them. It’s funny to me that you say DTG should remove attacks like these, because you are the only one who makes them.

 

Troll comment because we've been helping a newcomer to TSC. That's the behaviour of a "moderator"? Huh, huh. Moderate yourself man.

 

I can tell you from my own experiences that it takes a lot of time even with the aid of overlays and terrain DEMs. We all pay tradesmen/craftsmen for their expertise in e.g. plumbing/electrics/car maintenance and we pay them a lot more than we pay for someone to spend the hours (and it is multiples of hours, many of them extremely boring e.g. tree/bush planting) developing a DLC. Frankly if you can do better.... over to you I look forward to it.

 

The general groan and malaise of the US fan base gives one to think that TSC for US targeted DLC is dead. I guess with the reception this product gets on this forum just shows that all we can expect in the future is TSW. Thx everyone negative for destroying any hopes that US DLC creators have of getting a good reception.
TSC US is dead
Long live TSW USA

 

TSW USA hasn't yet succumbed to this 'passes' mania as it might seem the casual thumbstick player finds the mountain runs slow and boring with lots of thumbs twiddling instead of fast action.
So far we've mostly been offered short segments of commuter routes.

While Tehachapi in Run8 is both demanding and challenging whether you are playing engineer or dispatcher, and never boring. Nor is the Murphy Branch in Railroader.

Declaring TSC USA dead is a bit premature still, as content is still actively being developed. I am sure there is a distinct market for the present offerings, no matter my personal preferences.

About a medium to long term future? This might mostly depend on what the competition is doing, and so far each game/sim has carved its own market niche.
And most seem to struggle with the complexity of entire networks and hardly venture far from the concept.

I doubt we'll ever see a software giant like EA or MS stepping into the railway simulation and crushing the competition.

 

That should be opposite US freight in TSW is not dead but stagnate .at least new freight stuff still being done for TSC even if it not the most perfect..i have switched to TSC cause no new freight stuff in TSW anytime. Soon ..soupposed to be a Santa FE game play pack on TSW roadmap been on there a good while but no hints of what or when it come...im enjoying the USA content in TSC both modern and retro currently FRE and B&O mountain subs are my favorite s

 

Class 1 railroads are refusing to give DTG access for research. US freight is practically dead in TSW (Cajon was their last freight route!) So much for Long Live. TSC has the route variety, Run 8 the operational variety and accuracy, and the possible teamwork. Sheesh, I can't even attach an EOTD in TSW.

 

I dont totally accept the access excuse for TSW us freight ... We get US freight content still for TSC if no license then they do unbranded the TSW crowd is too picky ..i have no problems with the unbranded trains in TSC ..the other game i play for USA stuff is trainz ..they soupposed to be bringing out a console version of trainz they taking voice auditions for it . As far as Run 8 i like it but since it not available on Steam and probably never will be ..its not a thing ...i absolutely refuse to buy anything not on steam store not hassle with files dependancies kuids and all that complex techy stuff ..dont want hear it that that stuff is easy to do its NOT ..had someone try to help me with files and no luck it was something to do in TSC tools they gave up too ..no Steam Store Content i DONT BUY..

 

My comments were more sarcasm. My point was if we keep bad mouthing everything that anyone makes in the US market we will drive off anyone who wants to be in this market.
Respectfully

 

i agree i personally have learned to enjoy what we do get to play in all the train sim games i got..is it perfect no will it ever be perfect no, can it be better; can the developers do better yes..

 

Going thru posts in this thread, you can see why I don't list HIS on that. As those do have issues with their products, especially with DTM assisted rolling stock in the routes.

 

Two observations, no matter how much negative complaining is posted here, it appears it makes no difference. Products are produced and people purchase them and nothing changes.
Personal insights included with crafted criticism are always welcome. It seems at times there is so much derogatory keyboard pounding and editorializing that the message is lost in the noise. Maybe that is that he was referring to?
There will always be fodder for the cannons.

 

Anyone would think there are a lot of mountains in America or something. There are plenty of flatter routes around too, though no doubt these draw criticism for not having enough hills.

So because you dislike certain products, nobody else should have the option of enjoying them either?

 

As to mountainous passes, a lot of European routes are filled with them with the exception of Great Britain proper, where the highest mountain is Ben Nevis (a diminutive, comparatively, 4,413 ft). I personally have driven,hiked, and rail traveled through Donner Pass (7,057 ft), and Feather River Canyon (7,183 ft). I personally like long trains snaking through canyons and traversing tall, long trestles or a fast manifest freight speeding across the desert (Cajon-Mojave) and there is the occasional switch action (shunting) scenario done in free roam.

 

If a platform appears to be in decline would you as a developer be inclined to make products for that platform? What has been happening is a lot of hobbyist developers are making freeware content and enhancements for already produced content to make it better.

 

I'm not trolling but I have to ask once again, How many angels can dance on a pin? Some of us like mountain routes, some of us like commuter routes, some of us like Granger routes, some of us like switching routes. Why are some always moaning that they don't see what they want?
As far as rolling stock, I want to see as much content as I can see. If it ain't great well I'll use it until something better comes along I don't spend my time bemoaning the fact that it's not perfect in my eye. Come on folks can we just enjoy our great hobby without complaining about everything driving creators to say I'm out of here?

 

I love the mountain pass routes they offer the best scenery they are challenging and they legendary ..i do also like to have a variety of routes and rolling stock classic and modern ..having never been to the western routes in person like Tehachapi Donner Marias , Stevens etc in TSC i can play these routes ..even the eastern passes iv e been to in person Like Horseshoe curve the Mountain sub , the Monongahela coal route its neat to run trains on the routes i have railfanned on or read about in books and magazines or see in videos dvd and youtube..i plan on eventualy buying most all the US and canada routes available in TSC and whatever is coming in future to the TSC steam Store There is a fair many UK routes that not in TSW that here in TSC im interested in buying at some point also

 

First of all, they need to want to dance

 

Can we possibly stop trolling and get back to the topic on hand?

 

Back on topic.


Also seems like Milepost still wants to do another routes for TSC.

 

I am happy to see that Milepost is still happy to generate TSC product.

 

Guess Pipestone Pass won't be their last route for TSC then. But also mean, from the screenshots, this will be the one route to be unbranded but still have the colors by the looks of it.

 

Once again jumping to conclusions not in evidence since these are pics from a WIP.

 

Heres the thing though

-The route is already sent to DTG for QA
-The Northern Pacific locos are branded, as seen in earlier shots

So it is worth mentioning how we haven't seen a MILW logo or text on any loco or piece of Rolling stock in Development.

 

Also worth mentioning he's skirting around the question on his FB page, leading me to believe it will be unbranded.
The license is owned by the Milwaukee Road Historical Association, so there's no reason why he shouldn't have received one though.

 

Not to mention...

-The old RSC GP9 pack still has one branded in that pack.


-The other MILW route that Kevin McGowan was working on back in 2016, was branded.


So why Milepost's route being void of MILW branding is slightly concerning, did DTG let the licensing deal with the Milwaukee Road Historical Association run out?

 

Also, I just realized Milepost's Pipestone Pass, and HIS's Bozeman Pass share the same endpoint......Three Forks

 

no MILW license then, unless a certain busybody knows better?

Snoqualmie Pass on Milwaukee Road's Pacific Extension seems like a likely follow up, though the section in between wasn't electrified

 

Who said no license?
Are you just stirring things for the sake of it?
It is WIP

 

It would be very odd to still not have branding this late into a build. It was sent to DTG QA like this, the Northern Pacific Geep, which is only used for AI on this route is branded. Hate to say but I think DTG lost the MILW license.

 

It's not a particularly hard task for the branding to be added as a set of freeware "repaints". I would expect within a week after launch.

 

I think it's fair to say that it's still possible we'll be getting MILW branding, but a number of signs point to the likelihood it'll be unbranded:

• All the MILW stock shown has been unbranded yet the NP stock had branding.
• The route is already in qa
• The dev has been inconclusive when asked.

All of these signs make me think milepost doesn't have the MILW rights, at least not yet. It's entirely possible negotiations are ongoing to aquire the rights.

 

Given the example of N&W 611's owners refusing any kind license in train simulator games to this iconic locomotive in any size or shape, some of those historical societies also seem very reluctant.
Unless perhaps a substantial lump sum and/or cut is offered, and no dev is willing to pay ££££ from his already small one time fee and possible future proceeds?
A branding pack offered by the same dev is already a breach of terms, and even free branding packs could be subject to take down orders if the trademarks are legally enforced?

Haven't heard anything about the CMStP&P DLC for the Polish SIM for awhile already either...

 

Voting with your wallet seems the only way to make changes with these almost monopolists.
If enough people vote 'no', they will inevitably come to a conclusion: either listen to your customers and improve or close shop.

Make way for a younger and better crew that hopefully won't repeat after their predecessors.

 

LOL, Yeah Right, you buy less so they will produce more

 

its what you want to spend your money on: more of the same 'passes' with cut-copy-paste mediocre rolling stock and the same ancient Kuju assets, even the cruciform vegetation is back, hoping for some kind souls bringing a rebranding pack and the much needed improvements to lights, sounds, smokes and physics
less is often more when it is created with more attention to detail
and it seems only the USA Steam DLC market is monopolised by HIS, DTM, TBT et al, from the British or Germany and other continental Europe railways enthousiasts one hear many much more pleasing comments over the greater variety of DLC, where the corn has already been sifted from the chaff.

 

There will be no younger crew unless the focus is on TSW. Let’s face TSC contributors is a dying breed. Take what you can get

 

Pushing people to "vote with their wallet" will not make any difference", there is not enough of them. The developers who were unmercifully bashed are still in business. The majority of people are satisfied with what is provided.
I seriously doubt if there will be a rush of developers to make content for TSC. One quick read through this thread would discourage anybody from jumping into the market. A lot of the "younger crew" are into other things and aren't interested in a aged old train game with mediocre graphics. They like flash, greater realism, and high frame rates and consoles. There have been several new train themed games released in the past two years that fit these players needs. Looking at player stats over the years, TSC is retracting. When a developer no longer makes it's own content for it's franchise this is a marker. More is being invested into games that have a higher growth potential.
If you don't like a particular developer, don't buy their product, other people will. I would sincerely remind you that as the older developers withdraw from the market there will be less and less content to choose from and that would accelerate the decline of TSC. Be careful for what you wish for and the unintended consequences.
I have been elevating the content that I have, modifying sounds, lighting, adding assets and scenery. So many enhancements are available, reskins, patches, sound, physics, route improvements, all as freeware. You just need to invest the time. Use your keyboard and mouse to create not to tear down.

 

well, at least it seems they are getting on in age, much like the MSTS crew over at Elvas Tower trying to keep OpenRails alive and other communities dedicated to trains, train simulations and model railways?
how come? I don't know enough about the demographics and economics to make an educated guess as to the decline in numbers

trains are boring, trains are out of fashion, trains are a nuisance, trains are a danger? Long gone are the days every boy wanted to become a conductor or engineer
Model railways are fast become the exclusive realm of the very wealthy, and clubs with a substantial fee to support the premises.

Even the more dedicated TSC developers like Machine Rail, Diesel Workshop, DSGDDR etc are from South America. Much like DTM, TBT, Reppo too I believe.
The typical NA teenager, young adult, adult isn't really interested? It seems only retired people have the time and patience to create, evven if not for money.
Perhaps in SA it is still economically viable to create for the NA market?

Over in the UK scene, there are a few very dedicated single developers, Caledonia, Bossman, Victory Works, etc are essentially single person businesses, others have only a very small team of freelance specialists, that are often shared.

How about Trainz etc?

Essentially, you pay for a person creating the landscape using DEM and laying the track using Google Earth and doing some basic wiring of signals, providing a few landmark assets and descriptive buildings when you swap any asset not to your liking.
So I'd rather buy a route without rolling stock, since apart from the locomotives, the consists are usually very sparse.

 

Milwaukee Road didn't have ""branding"" in the form of lettering on stuff until later. As delivered, it was just the herald. As far as licensing goes, MRHA is whom owns the trademark and they're easy to deal with.

 

so the 'unbranded" or "branded" Milwaukee Road mystery remains until the DLC appears in Steam for us to buy