I'm usually to be found on the TSW3 forum, but just recently I've reacquainted myself with TS. It may be an older game but it's got a lot going for it, in actual fact the newer routes are looking really good. What I enjoy most about TSC is the length of the routes, the sounds and the sheer variety of ai. For example there's a thread over on TSW3 about the lack of ai traffic on the NY-Trenton route, never a problem of that happening here!
Thank you. I do have a question; is steam workshop only for scenarios or can you get new routes and repaints/reskins there?
Mainly scenarios. There are many vendors who will supply reskins. There are a few vendors outside of DTG who will supply Routes and DLC. My favorites are Armstrong Powerhouse, Justtrains and ATS Simulations. These are the main 3 vendors of UK DLCs. I have been dabbling in US stuff recently as I live in the US. Most of my US is DTG material. I am sure others will point you in the right direction. What specifically were you looking for?
I live in London quite close to the GEML, my fav time railfanning on there was a couple of years back when Greater Anglia were running a wide variety of stock on that route, now it's mostly modern GA Aventra's along with TFL (Transport for London) and Overground units. I was hoping to get a Class 321 in GA colours and branding, also a 359 would be cool too. I remember the blue 460's that come with the DTG ECML very well.
Great advice friend, I picked up the exact skin I wanted and installed it successfully, now I can drive that train on the GEML and push back time!
To refine kilt46's answer, while it's mainly scenarios, there are many routes on the workshop. The trick is, they cannot include (much) custom assets which is fine for fictional fun routes but make realism difficult. Also, some may have become (partially) payware projects down the line, or casually abandoned when prerequisites got removed or so. One typical workshop route type is a scenery upgrade, mainly for old routes like TobBirk's Falmouth or the many Seebergbahn remasters. Similar to these are track replacements which allow for steam / diesel or electric operation on the opposite route type, or simply a visual upgrade (Cajon Enhanced replaces Kuju tracks). Repaints could work in theory but it's not implemented. (The game itself installs workshop files from ZIP to its folder structure.) One possible explanation might be licensing and inappropriate offerings. That said it's like banning knifes and scissors, being weapons.
Thank you for your detailed reply. I understand it all much more now. This is what I like about TSC - the fact that the community can have so much input and play a large role, though obviously the game is pretty dated so there's probably quite a few of have migrated across to TSW3, but I did that too and I'm back! I now have the GEML running just how I wanted it to be, including ai traffic. Also I have a Class 801 in LNER colours from Kings Cross. None of that would have been possible without the hard work of the community. I've also paid for the AP upgrade to the Norfolk Wherry Line - what amazing work. I love this game and people like you just make it better.
If you are interested I am cataloging all of the UK DLCs on a web site. I also am listing all of the special AP scenarios that they sell. Quite a few of these are hosted on the AP Wherry Lines: https://sites.google.com/view/trainsimulatorcontent/misc/armstrong-powerhouse You will see I have a map of each scenario I have completed in a slide show format. Respectfully
