So I just got an email from Rivet Games newsletter regarding the upcoming update for TSW 2 Rush Hour and the two upcoming train simulator games (with links) that will soon compete with DTG (and other 3rd party devs). They are Train Life: A Railway Simulator, developed by Simteract and the other called Sim Rail 2021 - The Railway Simulator, developed by SimRail S.A. I wish the very best of the two developers, hope they have a successful launch, and make the train community happy.
Competition can only be a good thing. Now these companies have to fight for our money by delivering the very best experience. Interesting times ahead (hopefully).
In terms of graphic display, TSW2 is undoubtedly the best choice, but TSW2 has a big shortcoming in the short term, that is, it takes too long to make the route and the route is too short. Sim Rail 2021 is slightly lower than TSW2 in terms of graphics. However, Sim Rail 2021 has a very attractive feature for me, it can realize real geodetic data within 500 kilometers. I am a fan of long-distance trains. If TSW2 still insists on the 40-50 mile route in a few years, then I will choose Sim Rail 2021 for the time being, and of course I will always pay attention to TSW2.
In fact, I hope Microsoft announces that it will re-enter the ranks of train simulators, and it is lively now.
Mate I would love long distance journeys on console with tsw2 but all I've heard is "its never going to happen"
Long routes are less a case of inability to do it, but how they fit into the schedule of route development. It's entirely possible to build the West Coast Main Line in TSW, but unless DTG get a second or third party to do it, they just won't have enough time.
When I saw the trailer for Train Life: A Railway Simulator, it looked good and was assuming that it would be a accurate version of the German railway but with tons of details. Now that it's out on early access (since August 31, 2021) , I decided to watch some gameplay on YouTube today. Even though it's early access, things are subject to change before the official release. I was disappointed that the map of the railway wasn't accurate or doesn't represent the real world, including the tracks, station designs (or missing stations), and the environment. Maybe it's my fault that I had that mindset as there's no mention that the game would be accurate to the real German railway network. I know the devs said that they will add license locos in the upcoming update on the roadmap like the ICE 3 and ICE 4. From example, take TSW 2 Köln Schnellfahrstrecke route compared to Train Life: A Railway Simulator. The station design of Köln Hauptbahnhof in both games looks great althogh the passengers in Train Life needs some work. Aachen Hauptbahnhof on the other hand in TSW 2 looks fabulous but in Train Life: A Railway Simulator, the station looks nothing like the actual real thing. Also, in Train Life: A Railway Simulator, between Köln Hauptbahnhof and Aachen Hauptbahnhof, the S-Bahn stations are not even there. I was saying to myself that how cool would it be to operate a ICE service from Cologne to Frankfurt or operate a lengthy S-Bahn or RE services. Watch from 2:14 for TSW 2 - Köln to Aachen Hauptbahnhof Start from 48:57 for Train Life: A Railway Simulator - Köln to Aachen Hauptbahnhof If you want to know what the map looks like, check below from 20:17 to 21:26:
I'd guess that because it is early access everything is still very much a work in progress and not representative of the finished product. I wouldn't worry too much about missing details, I suspect their priority for early access is feedback on the actual driving mechanics above all else at the moment.