Oh my. So much new stuff to learn and explore... and the fully modelled ET22 is just awesome, dispatcher radio so immersive. Goodbye TSW for a while And for all of this I have only spent 20 + 17 = 37 Euros so far... . That's 61 km and one (updated 182) Taurus in TSW.... here I got dunno how many miles plus loads of stock and signal boxes... and accurateness! Motion Blur TAA issues fixed - something DTG still don't get right. WOW!
Well that is inclining me to reinstall SimRail and buy the pack, certainly a very smart piece of work. Just have to keep fingers and toes crossed regarding the SP game and save function.
ZUSI 3 is the best railway sim and it does not have a game save. I play ZUSI 3 nearly every day. Otherwise, TSW has kind of "a save game" but I haven't touched it since last Dec
Using other games lack of a save is a Strawman argument. I bought Zusi 3 and at full price too, a few months ago but have barely touched it, mainly due to lack of a save game. Just because another game doesn't have the feature doesn't mean Simrail shouldn't. If you are going to have long routes that take 4 or 5 hours to drive from end to end, it is quite unreasonable to expect expect players to drive that in one hit. Very few people have that much time to sit at the PC nor is it healthy to do so. And workarounds such as leaving the PC on standby are not practical. What happens if you finish at 2200 before bedtime bit can't resume until 1800 the next day? Sorry but they should have sorted this before starting to put out paid DLC.
But if I remember correctly, there will be somekind of save in a game. It seenms they just need more time to develope this.
I don't care for a savegame but fully understand Vern. Though for watching a football match you can also take your time Savegames are the hardest thing to implement for a train simulator that has so many signal states, moving stock in different states, and latched variables (numbers that don't immediately change). Run8 gets around it by having all trains stopped. Train Simulator, and you may wanna serz a savegame, stores a ridiculous amount of data - still things can go wrong (also depending on the signal scripts used - they must allow their local or global variables used to be saved anytime). Issue might be track clearance notifications going to NIL if saved at the wrong time. TSW using its datatracks often fails when spawning at certain times, when trains are stuck on signals which then have an unplausible state (block ahead occupied whilst the train is already partially in that block - causing it to freeze because it has no options) when the interpolation puts them there in between snapshots. Red lights due to resuming a savegame are known. Zusi3 has an autopilot and FF, and the ability to jump ahead into another train and rejoin your previous run if you think a bit how to do it. For not ending up with these red light issues as in TSW, a timetable must be simulated from its beginning for each session. Especially for these "living" and spiced with randomness timetables, a savegame wouldn't work according to Carsten. And he's been working for... almost a quarter of a century on his simulator. Sounds silly, but a flightsim is much easier in that respect. You're storing a position and a vector and the plane's subsystems state flags.
Just fired it up after the update - feels like they've updated some of the foliage, looks great. Can't seem to take power when doing the tutorial for ETCS, followed this guide , https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2960976892, any ideas? Reading the ETCS manual, looks superbly implemented, nice.
I really want to like SimRail, and it has a lot of potential, but the game puts up a lot of barriers IMO. In addition to the mentioned lack of a save game, it's just very unpolished in places (yeah, early access, but they're selling paid DLC for it, so is it really EA?). Two examples that put me off after updating and buying the DLC: They've implemented ETCS (seems awesome btw), but i have no idea how it works. I tried to do the tutorial for it, which uses the ED250 trainset, but it already assumes you know how to drive it. But there's no ED250 tutorial that i could find in the game, and (to it's credit) it fully models just about all parts of the cabin. In the end i couldn't figure out the rest of the setup so i gave up for now. I ran the tutorial for the ET22, which again, seems very well modeled. After doing the very involved startup (which took like 15-20 minutes and included several errors like telling the player to press a button/switch when you needed to hold it), i finally get moving and almost immediately run a red signal because of an unclear instruction- it was telling me to keep increasing the tap changer and i guess there was lag or some other glitch but by the time it told me to brake it was too late and i'm sent...all the way back to the beginning of the tutorial. I gave up again for now. I know i just need to "git gud", but the game isn't the best at respecting my time (again i have to mention no saving). The English localization can be a bit shaky in places too IMO. I don't want to be harsh since it's a small team and it mostly is fine but there were a couple instances of it seeming to lose something in translation. The community seems very sensitive to pricing (which, IMO is extremely fair for a sim title, but i see a LOT of "the DLC costs as much as the game!" rants on the Steam forums and negative reviews specifically citing DLC price) so the devs need to figure out the right balance in that aspect too. None of these things are fatal in themselves, and i'll give it more time but for a game just trying to get off the ground, it might be asking a bit too much of the playerbase- i don't see a more casual audience sticking with it and are there enough hardcore players to sustain it?
They are working on something that will help new and old players at the moment and you can already get a sneak peak. Namely the official Simrail wiki: https://wiki.simrail.eu/ Atm most of the dispatchable stations have their own page with loads of information for when you want to dispatch, trains still need to be added but that should happen over the next few days and thoser might give you some help with startup. There are also helpfull maps of the routes, train relations and now ETCS zones as well. Also the game has a text infobook about ETCS, just load a random scenario and click on Show/Hide tutorials, it should open the tutorial guide. For now starting the ED250 is not that hard, when you enter the cabin on the left back panel switch on the battery (hold a few seconds, should be the top left one). After that activate the cabin with the switch on the main desk top left as well in front of the ETC middle screen. To get moving brakes need to be released fully and parking brake (red switch on the right) needs to be disabled.
Yes if you take the loco and freight cars in isolation they are a bit pricey, though probably on a par with Run 8 where you can pay $20 for a loco pack. I suspect what irks a lot of people is that they keep sailing beyond the point at which it was to be declared out of early access with all the other improvements (not just the save game/checkpoints) that were supposed to be coming, but here we are being offered paid for DLC content. Mind ISTR DTG doing the same with Flight Sim World and, well, once bitten several times shy. I suppose the counterpoint is that the freight pack subsidies the route and signal panel extension, though again not much use to single players. God knows what they will charge for the US route, if it ever sees the light of day. Bets start at £40!
Right now it is 830 players playing in multiplayer in simrail servers. I think most players in simrail want to play multiplayer (but my thoughts) So I think it so much right of them to put the most resources specifically on multiplayer. If you want single player, there is TSW. saw for myself that I soon drove 10,000 kilometers just in multiplayer
Thanks, but still not having any luck with this. Weird, never had this issue before, maybe I'm doing something wrong with the ETCS setup... Edit..ignore, got it going somehow. Perhaps I left the cab door open...
Yeah leaving the cab door open is not a good idea as you won't get any power haha. But glad you got it working!
Yes well the numbers were bound to jump following the updates and new content releases. Will probably be that way for a few days. And sorry but stating there is "always TSW" is just a strawman argument. Why shouldn't Simrail have a decent SP mode together with a save game? Where is the logic in putting out a 400km + route and the only way to experience it is to grab a little slice at a time on a MP server, if you can even find a train on a section you haven't already run across several times already. Not everyone is a nerd happy to spend 5 or 6 hours in front of the PC in a single session, nor should you have to as I already said. So sadly for now, tempting though it might be, SimRail remains uninstalled here and that also means I won't be buying the DLC either. Don't misunderstand me. I'm not anti SimRail. When I've played it the experience has been quite enjoyable but I want to be able to enjoy it in the same way as I would make a run in TSC or TSW and the devs should address thst for all of a like mind.
It's a valid point, and yeah there's nothing wrong with wanting certain features in a game But gonna be honest, you're really hung up on Single Player and Save Game. Maybe the devs just wanted something different or maybe it's coming in a later update. But the point remains, that it's a different game, it is not TSC and neither is it TSW, so there will be different features and functions the developers will focus on. Again, not trying to be rude or anything but if the lack of SP and Save Game is a deal-breaker for you then maybe.. the game just isn't for you? There's nothing wrong with that either, you still have plenty of other Sims to choose from. Again, I apologize if it comes across as rude and if I may have misunderstood your point. However, repeatedly looking out for 2 features to start playing a game clearly isn't going to work.
I only bought SimRail solely because of the multiplayer. I think this is the main SimRail's highlight.
I think simrail has found a niche as multiplayer train game that no other simulator has (in the same way) and make realistic routes and make the trains physics match reality. and it is important to stand out and not do the same as their competitors. and that's where they feel they can develop it so that it's as good as possible to be able to sell the game. Single player is what so many others have but here are the ones they are alone. Fully convinced that dovetail follows this closely. But they have a big uphill battle if they want to do something similar
Different markets. I dare to claim that TSW is aimed at the casual console player (see how quiet the TSW4 Steam forums are?), many being overwhelmed by how to setup a loco and technical details. They wanna push a handle, roll through scenery and make silly formations, then filing silly bug reports because their battery-less 4 car 700 or other fantasy EMU/DMU consists won't work. DLC are compact, wearing off quickly and the community permanently screams for the next route. Target market is big and DTG are serving this ever hungry community. Safe. SimRail is aimed at the simmers, offering deep and immersive gameplay no other train sim has managed to do. Go your own way, that's the way to go! Seeing the quality they deliver is very satisfying, and we all have invested only a small amount of cash for the whole game. Equal to a good dinner, but that's gone the next day TrainPlanet looks as if someone read all the forums, took the best parts of all sims and implemented most wished and missed features. Leaves to see if it is becoming a microtransaction based project, I have a feeling it will. Still nice to see what other devs are making. As soon as I have enough information, I will get into Lua Scenario scripting. (As of now, I've modified a lot of default scenarios.)
Well good discussion anyway and I live in hope they will give us at least something better for the SP game at some point. As said, I would dearly like to run the route(s) from one end to the other with a persistent player train. Otherwise it’s kind of a waste of the artistic and route building skills that went into making it. Also worth remembering Run 8 started off very much MP focused, but the devs soon realised the value of a strong single player game and hey, we even got OTTO! One thing I would like to see in SimRail, MP or otherwise, is some mainline diesel locos. At the moment focus very much on electric traction. Well who knows I might just reinstall it later on and even drop £15 on the ET22, poke my head round the door and a cheesy grin to you guys if I spot you on the server!
The game save was on the roadmap of January and should arrive by now. No word about it and that is what disappoints me. For me it is one of the main reasons I do not play SimRail even though it looks quite good overall.
That's my impression. The radio, the ability to share the rails with real people you can talk to, the ability to enter a signal box and do true to life dispatching, adjusting timetables due to delays, communicate with neighbour signallers... that's very unique and hasn't been done before.
I agree with you point of view. For a long time I did not want to buy it, but I was so stupid to believe the devs when they announced a save game in 3 months. Now it is not coming and nobody knows when they will. I normally do not have 4-5 hours to to complete anything in any game if there is no save. So I am mainly disappointed because of broken promises and the total lack of communication.
who told told you that anyone has broken promises? Read carefully all information from devs lets look all dates are approximate and may change!
I've kinda had a revelation on SimRail. Just pretend single-player doesn't exist, and play MP as you would Timetable mode in TSW. I ran a freight in the ET22 for almost 2 hours last night and it was great fun. I never ran into another player and the AI dispatcher did a pretty good job other than one time it checked me down directly from a green vmax to a red stop, but i managed to stop in time. The NA server was pretty barren though, so maybe this option is less viable on busier servers. I wonder if they'd think about adding private servers at some point? It's a mental hurdle to get over and it still feels "weird" just quitting mid-service but at least you still get to see your performance graph (and get Xp but just like in TSW levels seem pointless). There are still issues though like the performance of AI trains is pretty terrible with lots of lag and stutter.
Well that may be true - it's the best simulator when it comes to integrating driving and signalling gameplay in a multiplayer setting. That doesn't necessarily mark it as the best simulator of all time, though.
If I may guess a bit how most people drive simrail. SP= that is where you are trained. You get used to the trains and how they work. How signals work and how to brake and accelerate trains. It feel a embarrassing in a multiplayer to drive past a stop signal or that you can't start a train. Or driving too slowly etc I was even a little nervous about multiplayer and language. I am not an English speaking person. How much do you have to write to dispatchers and so on. But it's still very simple once you start. And you can take a server where there are few users in beginning. But after a while, I think most people then choose multiplayer and look for the server with the most users. Because it's much more fun. no train ride will be like another ride you've taken before. I run almost exclusively in multiplayer.
But it's still not the same as picking up the same train where you left off. You have to make a note of where you were or the last station you passed. Consult the (third party) map that shadows the servers and see if there are any trains in the vicinity that are AI controlled that you can take over. Even if something is available it's not the same service as you were driving previously, maybe a later train, maybe an entirely different type of train. As regards their Roadmap well they have well and truly over-run on several of the milestones which, fair enough, were not set in stone. However, confirmation of their intentions and an honest statement where things stand would go some way to easing frustration.
It's not the same, that's true, and it relies far too much on third-party websites, etc. Though IIRC, each train service has a unique ID, so jumping back in shouldn't be that hard, but tbf i haven't tried resuming a service since the new update. The software UX is much worse than TSW overall- there's no in-game map at all (never thought i'd miss TSW's bare-bones effort lol), and i hate the exterior camera with a passion. Trainings are mixed in with the other SP scenarios in the list- overall it's just kinda sloppy. Hoping these things will improve over time though. I do love though, and i wish DTG would copy this immediately, is it gives you a paper timetable of your current service in the cab to peruse at your leisure. Would be a great step forward towards a working ebula. Agree communication is a big problem. I think they need to consider hiring an English-speaking community manager if they really want to grow the game-
People already started making SP scenario's with the new LUA coding, for now installation is manual but steam workshop integration is in the making. Maybe those who prefer SP will find less long scenario's here untill there is a save option. More can be found in the scenario section as well Simrail forum acount is required. https://forum.simrail.eu/topic/8662-paczka-zmodernizowanych-scenariuszy/
It's a good start, but there's still plenty of work to be done on the devs' side when it comes to SP stuff - in particular SP signalling...
I did ponder that one way round might be if we get a scenario editor with a reasonable interface, to create a series of 40 or 50 minute chained scenarios that effectively run one train across the route. We shall see. Anyhow SR almost finished reinstalling and I caved and bought the ET22 pack. Let's see if I can find a quiet server for some vintage AC action.
Jumped into this for the first time in a while and ran the clunky old EMU (EN57) on the EN2 server for a while. First time with this unit and it's got an old-school charm rather like the EU07 locos.
Just had a quick run with the ET22. Very nice though a bit hampered by picking a train running through Julius which is plagued by 30 and even 20km/h speed limits popping up. But yes, worth the money I think for the add on, just need to find a run tomorrow where I can thrash it a bit more.
£40 is equivalent to about $50 USD. Given Searchlight's products in the past for TSC, their AC44 is $30 while their ACu is $25. What we know about the route so far is that it could "potentially" include 4 US locos (AC44, SD70ACu, GP20ECO, and SD40-2) also not factoring in the route itself or the rolling stock. If its all up to SS's normal standards. £40/$50 USD would be a good deal.
Some SP scenarios written with LUA have been added: https://forum.simrail.eu/topic/8662-paczka-zmodernizowanych-scenariuszy/
An update for those who wondered about ETCS: ETCS initialisation when taking over a train in multiplayer will be quicker, currently WIP. Also for those wanting a read through the ETCS manual of Simrail without opening the game: https://tutorials.simrail.eu/etcs/EN/
Managed to get a bit more done with the ET22 around Lazy. But the problem with freight workings is that you’re constantly getting slowed down and looped so not much of a chance to get up to speed before the brakes are going in again. Not sure if it’s me but seems a tad overpowered. On the few stretches where I could let rip, got up to 100 km/h without having to use the shunt regulator, which incidentally also seems to lock out the throttle.
