Is This The Real Reason Why There Are No Japanese Routes ?

Other developers exist, such as Union Workshop, who made the bulk of Japanese/Chinese content for TSC - and are working on a route for TSW.

 

Research / sound recording trips to Ukraine are quite firmly off the cards. Until the war is over, Ukraine has a chance of, approximately, zero.

There kind of is.

 

Spot on and for the H5 it's owned by JR Hokkaido which is why it has H letter.
For the bottom list you should have that as JR East/Hokkaido
E1
E3
E5/H5
E6
E7.

 

As a postscript to this thread, DTG are missing out hugely by not getting any Japanese routes in TSW. I am about to invest heavily in the JR East series in the forthcoming sale, even though fully aware of the limitations a video clip based sim imposes. Now imagine those routes and operations in a full 3D environment such as TSW offers. Would be great.

 

Train Sim Life?

 

There isn't a "life" aspect to TSW either. There would need to be a Career Mode (not in the TSC sense) for that to work.

TSW makes sense because it is a simulation of the world around the railways featured.

 

Since DTG probably wouldn't care either if this thread completely stays on topic, here a different approach from me:

Anyone watched James May's series "Our Man in Japan" on Amazon Prime?

For a few scenes, trains (the Kyushu for example) and the people around (trainspotters and a train station jingle composer which even has it's own train simulator with real graphics - OMG how much I would give for that) were a major topic. Here a few shots, I found on YouTube for free.





Still is my favorite Amazon exclusive production and big highlight of 2022 for me. Recommend anyone to watch the 6 episode series in full if you got Prime Video.

Watch this DTG, and see how many fun a fellow english lad could have with Japanese trains. So could you, too!!!

 

They just need to employ some Japanese staff to help translate everything.

Did you go on the Odakyu line to Hakone as well? The original MSTS route. That is amazing but most Tokyo trains are amazing as they are new and luxurious. The biggest city in the world has to be FAST and efficient!!!

Yes the Shinkansen is a true delight!! I'm always so grateful to ride it and recommend everyone to do it. It is amazing. The technology like tilt and everything that goes into it has really set the standard. Many Asian customers like India and Indonesia have bought in to the tech.

It is very top secret and requires special licensing.

If the player base expands in Train Sim World dramatically we might get a dozen routes from Japan within 2 or 3 years.

It is expanding this year at a fast pace.

 

No, I did not go to the route you mentioned.
I remember the seats of the Shinkansen are not comfortable, due to they are designed for the size of Japaneses.
So the seat and the back were a bit shorts.

I went there due to my job.
But I have a friend living there, so I have some time for other issues.
On that cases we used commuter trains.
You have to talk very low!
It is considered disrespectful to speak just a bit loudly.

Shinkansen times are really weird. It payed my attention
I mean, departing times are... 12:17 / 14:23 , not "rounded" times like; 12:20 / 14: 30, about minutes.
As it is very common on most the rest of the world.

 

That's because the japanere railways work with such precisity that train are expected to arrive to the minute - in most commuter lines even exactly to the second. Because if you get even a minute delay, it can cause bottlenecks with train traffic and passenger transfers through the whole system. Of course there can be delays up to 10-20 seconds, but if a train is late for more than half a minute, then it can become problematic.

But having not round departing times is not that uncommon. Here in Hungary we also have exact times, like 10:21 or 15:47 for example, even though our trains are not known for being on time.

 

In the UK public times are rounded up to the nearest minute too. You couldn't run an intensive commuter service rounding up to 5 or 10 minute intervals. And the working times for some services show only a 30 second station stop.

 

The Japanese drive trains to the second. Must be very precise. The timetable is due to the scheduling and they are efficient. They run trains back to back. It is highly organized. It is a huge system. So they have to be very methodical in their running. Because they need to clear a platform at Tokyo station so another train can arrive.

The Kodamas will wait around two to three times in a loop for Nozomis or Hikaris to pass them. The Kodamas are slow all stoppers. But still do 250-300kph. The Nozomis are the express and the Hikari is in between both, stopping at the major stations only.

You can't get on the Nozomi unless you have a seat reservation. The others I think are not strict like that. I might be slightly wrong but... I remember standing on the Shinkansen for around half an hour or so. Because they will do that. But not on the Nozomi.

 

If you ever get out near Nagoya Japan, I suggest visiting the SCMaglev and Railway park, they have a display that shows an entire 24hr cycle of a daily process of running from Tokyo to I think Osaka. Showing all the trains plus the nightly maintenance work that happens overnight.

 

You said it better than me!! Each train is a cog in the wheel and must be precise!!

 

Been to the Maglev and the Kyoto steam museum.

Railway park is in Nagoya?

 

I seem to have found what you mean.

The Maglev I went to was the real one that does 500kph, and more.

 

I would suspect there's a huge investment needed for custom Japanese assets before you even get to route building.

 

Well that can be said about any route that is not the usual modern UK/German copy+paste route, really.

SPG, as the first route ever for TSW, required everything from scratch. GWE required new UK assets from scratch. Rapid Transit required new german assets, being the first german route. The TGV route required new french assets and Arosalinie required unique RhB assets and scenery items unique for the route.

So suddenly why would japan be such an enormous task? We already have four or five main countries in the game, all of them required a new asset base from scratch at the beginning.

 

I would say that although we do have the main three countries that gives lots of scope for many trains and routes with all 3 recently having a major rolling stock renewal as well that adds to the fun. Is there a possibility that our French friends over at SimExpress could come onboard TSW in the future? That would take care of most if not all new French routes and trains.

Just take a look at their TSC add-ons. They are amazing and they are complex to operate at first but there is a quick start mode to jump right in and get going. Should they do a TGV route and a TGV train. Perhaps we have LGV Ocean (formerly known as LGV Atlantique) as they recently introduced TGV Duplex trains on that route and the TGVV Atlantique trains are being withdrawn if this has not already happened.

With SimExpress already done the BB7200, BB22300, BB36000, RTG Turbo Train (I used to have the Amtrak model many years ago that was a repaint from Jouef) and their CC72000 locomotives that all exist for TSC. It wouldn't take too much work to port these over into TSW and add functionality to them like being able to climb in an out of the cabs as well as add collision files for the player to walk around the locomotives and the passenger cars for starters.

That would make a nice French roster of trains to get them started in the world of TSW. As for the Japanese routes and trains. I think Union Workshop should start us all on their TSW add-ons with a Shinkansen route that would be the Kyushu Shinkansen with the JR Series 800 that is a 6 car train as it would not be too long and I think that line runs from Fukuoka to Hiroshima if I recall correctly. I don't pay too much attention to Japanese routes much these days as I am more into Canadian and American trains with some UK stuff. But I am still into the French and the Japanese trains to some extent.

 

Well they do employ people to do 3D modelling and artistry so, you know, get them started on it!

After the disappointment of the (now refunded) JRE video sim I really want to see some Japanese stuff in TSW. Not necessarily high speed Shinkansen stuff but something like the Tokyo route that was done for TSC or, indeed, venture into Ongakukan's territory with one or more of the lines they have done in JRE but within a proper simulation game engine.

 

It is worth noting that DTG has purchased models or outsourced stuff in the past. So they could "theoretically" do it if they wanted to work on a new country.

 

The sad thing about the JR East Game: Seems that the base game had´nt be in any sale by now [https://steamdb.info/app/2111630/] and the base game only has demo versions of three routes .... oh just looked in the shop: they added a full route??? Oookaaay, last time only 3 demo routes were included. Had tested it, but refunded it. But now I might consider buying it again (but the prices are... puhh). Unfortunately there can in the DLC´s only driven from A to B, without a drive back from B to A.

However, japanese routes in TS/TSW would indeed really nice, but I think by DTG itself it would not come, because of reasons someone mentioned earlier. It would need journeys to Japan for researching, it would need learn their systems (signalling, safety, ....), and a lots of japanese assets. So by now japanese routes perhaps only come by 3rd party. And then: routes in those big cities as Tokyo might be also relatively rare, because of their lines through extrem densely built-up cities over kilometres. I was already surprised that a DLC with a Tokyo commuter line was released.

 

One other major factor is licensing, Good luck for DTG getting a JR license, and it would be difficult for them to approach the other operations without a good translator.

At most people need to be patient and wait and see what Union Workshop is working in 1st.

 

I did relent and rebuy in the end, choosing a different DLC to go along with the core route. The one that gives you the Tsurami Line which though short, is quite interesting and surprisingly for Japan very weed strewn and neglected looking. I will gradually add the rest of the DLC that interests me but at between £27 and £35 a throw it will be an occasional and very selective process. They missed out massively by not having at least some discount in the Christmas sale.

 

I'd LOVE a Japanese route, given where I was born.
However, going to be honest, im going to be so late on most stations... ignoring the one time I had a 20 minute delay because I accidentally lowered my Pantograph without realizing it

 

How do you accidentally lower a pantograph?

 

It was dark, I was hitting a bunch of switches. One of them so happened to be the Pantograph switch. I swear I pay much more attention now when I drive XD

 

If TSW ever got a Japanese route I doubt it would be scored or performance checked as rigorously as the home brew Japanese sims. Though that said, the JR East sims are strangely devoid of any sort of performance assesement or scoring and from what I can see don't even have any Steam achievements.