Introduction Okay, I get it! Everyone is sick of people suggesting multiplayer! But I want to take it a step further and explore how it could be implemented in the best way possible. Driver Ranking I’m taking inspiration from how Forza Motorsports multiplayer will work. Basically there are two rankings, your driver ranking (which can just be the same as the single player ranking), and safety ranking. Obeying speed limits, stopping accurately for stations, etc.. will increase your safety rating, and players with a better safety rating will be able to join lobbies with other players with a good safety rating. Being a dangerous driver (speeding, missing stations, running red signals, etc…) can hurt your safety rating. If you are too reckless, you can get kicked from a lobby. Red signals and derailments will automatically kick you and severely hurt your safety rating. Once a player gets kicked, an ai driver will automatically take over the service. And derailed trains will be reset onto the track they were last on. Player who are inactive for too long, or leave mid-service will also be automatically kicked and replaced by an ai driver. Lobbies Players could have the opportunity to run there own lobbies. They can decide if they want to be permanent or temporary. The host can select the route and timetable and the start time. They can also choose to fast forward to a certain time of day. They can make it public or private. People can also choose to play as a second man or conductor through cooperating with whoever is running the service. Any liveries that the host has installed will be visible to all other players. Conclusion Obviously this would require a ton of work, but if someday we do ever get multiplayer, I believe this would be the best way to do it. Let me know if I missed anything, or if I should change something.
Multi-player, is of course a very fun idea. They don't say "It's more fun with friends" for no reason. However, there are some issues that can arise from having a multi-player mode inside of a Simulator. All of this, could be done in the future. It will all depend on what the player base actually wants. First would be... Practicality Making a Train Simulator that contains multi-player introduces unique challenges as to how the game could run without any major disruption to the schedules. First, would of course be player actions. There would need to be a way to make sure that if a player is just stopped in the tracks, it wouldn't delay people for more than 5-10 Minutes. In all games, there will always be that one guy who goes AFK and doesn't leave the lobby. There has been a solution, surprisingly from a train simulator in Roblox that could be used. If a player is stood still for more than maybe 5 minutes or so, they'd enter a "Ghost" mode, allowing for other players to pass through them without collision. Alternatively, the AI could just take over the train till the player returns or disconnects. Trolling could also become an issue, in all games there will always be one player whose out to cause chaos for all. Once again, this would have to be solved somehow to allow a smooth multi-player experience. Map Size While the latest TSW3 maps have been impressive when it comes to length, for a multi-player to be fun, there'd have to be much larger and more complex maps that offers a wide range of options for players to choose. If the map only had two ends, it'd be somewhat lackluster. It would need multiple branches, yards, lines, etc... This would be a major undertaking. Depending on how many players would be in a server...it may exceed SimRail's map size.
I think it is also important to mention that the singleplayer experience would need to be better for multiplayer to work properly and smoothly. Imagine the same bugs appearing in a multiplayer server whether that is red lights or dispatching issues or anything else that could break the game. Also, how would it handle mods especially for pc players which could also cause problems if everyone does not have the same mods or compatibility issues if there are conflicting mods.
how about a Hump Yard mode for Barstow and Cumberland. European routes Hagen Vorhalle RRO RSN Oberhausen West HRR and HDU Dresden Friedrichstadt Riesa-Dresden Tharandter Rampe Leipzig Engelsdorf RT. Player 1 drives the Switcher while player 2 has to uncouple the freight cars and drain air tanks for the hump.
Per DTG Matt, "There will absolutely be multiplayer in Train Sim World." back in 2017-18 with TSW was first announced. Still waiting Matt, still wiating. Trimmed down your quote a bit. On one hand making sure people play properly and safely is a good thing. The other had a rating system is just to much gamification of playing. It's easier to just give the host a big red kick/ban button next to every player in the session and call it a day. This way if you have a problem player you don't have to wait for some system to boot them, just hit that button and be done with it. This is very true, speaking from experience. Again, speaking from experience, there are ways around this / ways to work with this. First MP would have to be a more free roam style game play. No prescripted scenarios. Having the host ability to boot a player from a train/the game if they are AFK would greatly avoid the issue of blocking a line. Having played MP in Run8 I have seldom seen an afk player train blocking another player train. The few times I have its been dealt with in a realistic manner. Ether the other player waited for the AFK player to return. The active player was able to get routed around the AFK player. Or the host removed the AFK player from the train and moved it some other way. As for trolls, the kick/ban button solves that real quick. This I feel mixed on. Again, looking at other train sims that do have multiplayer and the maps for them. Both large and small maps have their pro and cons. I'll try my best to explain them. Large maps a great if you like long runs. They are also have a great verity of things to do. Meaning lots of people will have lots of options for the activities they want to accomplish. However large maps means that people will be spread out. I can't tell you how many times I've been working my myself in Barstow while 5-6 other players are spread out in LA, Bakersfield, and Freso in Run8. Like we are all 100+ miles away from each other. (Could quickly teleport if we wanted to.) I think large maps are good if you have 10+ people to pop into a session. Small maps tend to keep players close to one another. This is great for working together doing yard work or serving industries. But it can get cramped and clustered if too many players are trying to run trains all in the same space. Back in Tainz Mp I found that small model train routs where fun with 3-4 people, but any more than that and you felt like you where standing on someone else toes. And to the people saying no to multiplayer. You understand it would just be another game mode right? Like no one would force you to play multiplayer.
Pass on that. The time spent making it, the things that could go wrong, the actual practicality of it outweighs what it’s worth
Multiplayer could be a cool thing and should be a thing, even though it comes with some problems, but isn't it worth a try?
I like the idea of multiplayer I guess, but would not like to see it in game. Time spent on that could be put on better use.
