Hi tsm connaisseurs around the world, I need your help on a really important question: I have a really good friend who helped me immensely throughout this year. I can not tell you how grateful I am for having him by my side without giving you too much information (I'm a little afraid he will read this and I don't want him to know that I'm asking you). He told me that he plays tsm4 a lot to relax after work, and did his own creations in the creators club (he proudly showed me), and he told me about his favorite trains and trails and let me watch a little bit and got a few extra worlds/bundles, if I understood him right, as I'm not a real Gamer myself and I dont know how to play the game or how it works. So here comes my question: I'd like to make him an extraordinary train sim world-related present to show him how much this meant to me. And who better to ask than all of you in this forum? Things I thought about: Do you have to be chosen to be a beta-player for new generations/updates of the game or is it possible to apply somewhere and if yes, where? Are there by chance any german-speaking developers or such you would know of I could ask for like a short online meet&greet or a personal greeting video? And last but not least, there isn't by chance a train conductor from Germany here he could do a real-life train ride with, no? Or do you know someone I could ask for that? Like a little day-long internship? I'm very happy for other ideas as you as fans certainly have more ideas of what you would like. I wish you a very happy christmas and a lot of time to play in the next few days and thank you in advance for your answers xxx
Hi mate, first of all good on your mate, for being a good mate to you. Hope you are well. I would probably not go down the Beta tester route, not only are DTG very selective, but your mate would have to put many, many hours into just repeating the same service, often finding many issues with the route. Not that I have been a Beta tester, as I just don't have the time that would be needed, but this is what I have seen said about it. It may not sound as extravagant, but would he appreciate you buying him a DLC? There are German devs, it may be worth sending DTG Lukas a private message on the forum to look into a video like that. Of course he wouldn't be under an obligation to do so if he didn't feel comfortable. Sorry for tagging you as well Lukas mate, I know you will have many more important things on your plate. If you hadn't already guessed I am not German, but I do work on the railway, so it may be different in Germany, and in fact it differs by TOCs here, but mine are very strict with people getting 'behind the scenes' rides on trains like you suggest, though I am sure if you know someone on the railway, you could get him a free trip on their train. On this string of thought, are there any heritage lines near to you which may offer driver experience days on heritage stock, though these are very expensive for what they are, again I don't know how this would be in Germany. Good luck to you mate, I hope you find your mate something. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and all that.
Matt (above) has answered well. Beta testing is basically a full time job at the developers, so probably best not to go there. Ordinarily, some DLC would make for a good gift, but I gather that you want to do something more. Perhaps you could organise a day out where you take him across the real-life routes that have been recreated in the game (although that would be very expensive, and would only work if he hasn't done that already). I think Ramagani is a German train driver who plays Train Sim World on Youtube. He does have an account on here, but I don't think he visits often. Perhaps try and reach out to him. I don't think he will be able to accommodate, since railways tend to be very strict about these things. This is such a thoughtful thing to do, though. I am sure your friend will appreciate it!
