Sadly it’s still a video based sim with all the shortcomings that tends to bring (no seasons, time of day etc.). In this day and age it would surely be better to develop with a decent game engine, even Unity.
Probably because the standard was set by Cab View Driver… A tiny rendition of a jerky uncoordinated Railscene VHS clip in a decidedly odd interface!
This is popular in Japan since the original version is a railway instructor sim played with an actual locomotive cab. If DTG were to do this method TSW 3 Southeastern routes you need to match with a train cab. think of Zusi 3 professional version which is played on a locomotive cab which was first featured in the Berlin Innotrans
After enjoying the Kyoto sim from the other developer might give this a shot if it gets a decent discount in the sale. Quick question, are there any different clips for seasonal or nocturnal runs or is it just the one standard video? Also I read the route takes quite a while to run from end to end. Can you save and resume or return to a checkpoint? I see there are quite a few DLC routes to go with the core sim. Never know, they might do a bundle at sale time!
Yes I agree with you about the sounds they are very good, I am waiting to see if any of the routes go on sale. You can’t save Vern but think you can start from any station.
Got to get this add on route for it - beautiful... The Oiti Line (1) JR EAST Train Simulator ► Oito Line (Matsumoto to Minami-Otari) 211 series #4 - YouTube
That looks great, more money leaving my account by the looks of it. I was impressed by the smoothness, generally with these video based sims when you slow down you get juddering. However, watching the video above even when he overshot his stop it was still smooth.
Even from the clips on YT the audio quality is very evident, especially all the reverb on bridges and through tunnels. In fact I'm so pumped to get started on this I'm finding it difficult to contain myself and wait for the sale to start on Thursday. I've been following a bit of the Oito Line on Google Earth and, wow. Patience man, patience.
Yeah, I might dabble in this as well, there's a lot of DLC though, hopefully there will be quite a discount. The question is, which DLC to buy. On a side note, I've also gone in for Nautis Home, after watching Schnauz's vid + a bit of research. Too much software to handle these days...
You're right and that's just the train stuff, without getting back into stuff like Fallout 4. As regards the JR DLC, going to be a tough choice but I reckon in the following order of priority: No. 1. Oito Line. Scenic single track. No. 2. Hachinohe. Scenic mountain and coast plus from what I can see DMU operated. No. 3. Shinetsu. Another DMU and scenic run. No.4. Senseki. More coastal scenery.
I bought this one in early access. When it was released to find you only get a short demo route. For me it is not worth the money and the routes are rather expensive.
The core game is now advertised on Steam as having a 80km main route: Lines and cars that can be played with the basic pack Keihin-Tohoku Negishi Line Southbound Omiya-Ofuna 81.2km(40 stations) Series E233-1000 Tokaido Line Down Tokyo-Shinagawa* 6.8km(3 stations) Series E233-3000 Chuo Line Rapid Service Going up Takao-Hachioji* 5.7km(3 stations) Series E233-0 Oito Line Down Matsumoto-Azusabashi* 5.3km(5 stations) Series 211 Yes it is quite expensive but compares favourably with DTG DLC prices, albeit a different experience than TSW or TSC. Assuming there is a reasonable discount or bundle in the Xmas sale I'll be picking up what I can.
Have not had a go for a while so just playing now and yes base game comes with that Keihin route and it says 46 stations in the game, it has a rapid and a local service. Oh and the cab bounce and sounds are excellent.
Part of me wants to try it. But given how it uses IRL footage VS a rendered in game world kind of puts me off.
That is the only downside, when you stop at stations everything else stops, but if you can overlook that it is a very good game. At least you can refund it within 2hrs of gameplay if you don’t like it.
That's why I'm looking forward to buying the DLC as I think the concept will work better on remote single track routes so you don't see the same trains passing in the same location. That obviously and no seasonal, time of day or weather variations. Maybe in the future the developer will look at doing a graphic engine based sim. The advantage for them I guess is the actual route development is easier, just making sure everything is configured in time to the clip hence the longer routes.
It's a shame the Densha De go series never really got released out side of Japan. I know a few years ago an arcade cabinet got placed in a Dave and Busters, but haven't heard much since.
Was chatting in a thread on Reddit earlier and it looks like Ongakukan don't generally put their stuff in the sale. According to Steam DB only the core programme has ever been sold at a lower price and that was in October last year. That said, most of the route DLC is fairly recent so probably too early for it to get a discount up to now - guess we will see what happens on Thursday. Still intend to grab the core and one or two additional routes regardless, though.
I’m hoping for at least 20% off the core programme and maybe the older DLC. However regardless, I’m going to be grabbing the main game and one or two of the routes to get started.
The video quality is really great, and on most routes so is the cab overlay. To me the biggest downside is that every add-on only contains one way recordings and no alternative settings.
That is the biggest single drawback with this approach, but hey ho. In the meantime, after watching this clip.. (1) JR EAST TRAIN SIMULATOR: Hachinohe Line | 八戸線 - YouTube ...the Hachinhohe has jumped to No.3 on my buy list after the core and Oito. That DMU sounds superb, very similar to a 158.
Local Arcade wants one, but limited space and other import machines are higher on their Wishlist. The current Densha De Go is still popular in Japan so it's unlikely to be hitting the second hand market until the next version comes out. (and Taito will not sell it new outside Japan)
I noticed they've enhanced the signal visibility in JR East. Is this purely for that purpose or are they able to change aspect on different runs? (like the 377 sim)
Train driving game in a gaming arcade? How is that?? The "one handed controller" is even available and with an interface can be used to play JR East
I suspect it's just aesthetic to enhance the video clip and there is no variation next time you make the run. That's how Densha de Go got started, train driving in the arcade being something of a Japanese cultural thing, then came the home versions which sadly, in the case of Taito, they have remained very parochial and steadfastly refused to make officially available outside the Far East market. Which is why I'm keen to support Ongakukan with their more enlightened distribution policy. Just got another 24 (or is it 23?) hours to go and see what (if any) of the products get a discount in the sale.
Train sims in general are also very well favored in Japan. When I was there a few months ago, the 2 Railway Museums I visited had alot of simulators available, though most require advanced reservations thru their ticket office or app (Depends on the museum)
Hardware simulators, where you take a seat in a mock up locomotive cab? JR is probably very restrictive in licensing its brand outside the Japan domestic market, hence the steep prices of the Steam game?
Pretty much, the only one I tried was a commuter one, basic cab controls, but they had more advanced ones for the Shinkansens and Steam with a full on cab, those you need to reserve early or all the slots are gone.
probably also shows the different cultural attitude towards rail transport and trains. something to be proud of, instead of throwing rocks at or vandalise or pilfer its lading
That and JR East probably expect a similar return to their other big gaming property - they along with some others invested in something called ポケットモンスター which ended up becoming a big thing and earner.
Looks like no discount or bundles on any of the collection, then. Oh well time to dig deep in the Steam Wallet! Will be tomorrow before I can play as the core programme plus two routes is nearly 70Gb!
What a shame no discounts. You spent a fair bit there then Vern, expect I will see if Father Christmas brings me a steam voucher before I get any routes. Enjoying playing today, hope you enjoy it, look forward to your feedback.
Yes it was a bit of a hit on my Steam Wallet. Got enough left for Train Crew then save back up for the SimRail ET22 pack (if I decide to get it), the Hakodate Tram Sim and of course the Class 104 for TSW when it drops. Fairly large hard drive bite, each route must be over 20Gb, so no wonder they don’t do the drive in each direction or different times of day!
Had a quick drive on a couple of the routes and my overall impression is good, but mixed. The implementation of the fmv tech is much smoother than in the Kyoto and Meitetsu games from the other Japanese developer. It might be me but the clips seem to have a level of CGI enhancement, particularly foliage. The sounds as evident from the YT clip are excellent as expected. Where I think this series might struggle is the gameplay particularly repeat drives. Surprisingly for a Japanese sim there is no assessment of your performance or any achievements that I can see. Okay, TSW’s Action Points can get on the nerves a bit but having the all day timetable, scenarios and the Journey mode does present a nice package. Then factor in the layering from other routes and each run can offer something a bit different. With fmv you are always going to be driving the route in exactly the same time of day, with the same trains passing at the same location. The three routes I bought so far only have two or three different services to run. You cannot save and return to the same run. You just have to start again and skip forward to the next station. So like I said, it’s good and different but more like an interactive cab ride video than a full on driving sim, IMHO. The thing is, highly unlikely DTG Matt will ever sanction any of these routes appearing in TSW,so if you want to drive them JRETS is the only means available. Something I will add to gradually rather than binge buy (the routes are expensive for the experience offered and thus far no discount in Steam sales) and it will sit alongside my other train sim products rather than replace them.
Thanks for the review, haven't pulled the trigger yet on this but may do at some point. It definitely looks smooth in the clips, especially when stopping which is pretty important. The thing is you can gauge if you're going too fast or slow by looking at how the passengers are moving which puts me off a bit. Its a shame that they don't vary the signal states for a bit of gameplay variation, like the 377 sim.
Also, OldVern, thanks for the brave purchase and honest review. Another, slightly more polished there-and-back driving experience, at a substantial price? I declined the X-mas offer with the more wanted SimRail DLC in the queue.
Well at the 11th and a half hour I decided £80+ (core plus 2 xDLC) for what in truth amounts to an interactive cab ride video was just a bit too much to pay. Couldn’t see much replay value in it so the funds are now back in my Steam Wallet. It was worth a try but, as I said, as much as we might see the flaws in TSW and some of its content very hard to go back to a flat 2D screen with no other view options. And if you want a frantic Tokyo commuter experience, then the TSC route is far better IMHO. If it goes on sale at a much reduced price then I might give it another try, but let’s just say at this stage there are better things in the pipeline or back catalogue to spend the money on. As I’ve said before in other threads, all roads lead back to TSW!
So the JR train driving experience is like playing an arcade game? Which is probably what it was intended for?? TSW is your bane in the train sim genre? For me, all roads lead back to TSC for British and German content, with a bit of French flavour added now I've got some of the SimExpress locomotives and carriages to try on the better freeware French routes. TSW not so much, too restricted and shallow, and only pretty from the outside. And Run8 for the USA side of train simming Derail Valley and Railroader for the fun of it
The stellar opposite in fact. Compared to the old Densha de Go games or even Train Crew (which is quite fun) it was one of the flattest, staidest experiences I could imagine. If there had been some sort of scoring or rating system might have been tempted to stay with it but they created a game and forgot to add the gameplay. I'll probably get lynched (or seppukued) by its proponents but once my credit clears thinking that West Rhine for TSW and the Shinkansen route for TSC will be on the buy list after all.
Well, I've never been an arcade game person. Also virtual trespassing on railroad property to collect collectibles also doesn't appeal to me. DV and Railroader, and perhaps some other online only ''create and run your own railroad" have this business model where you need to work to get things done and to earn money. I don't see any entrance for DTG to add any "commercially driven challenges" like in DV and RR to the current incarnation of TSW, which gameplay is only fragmentary and not a continuous developing timeline unless you want to spend an actual working day working a schedule. Once you've become rich in DV and RR and have completed all the set objectives, there is no real challenge anymore. Unless the developers provide a new route, new DLC and a new goal for the player to achieve, which so far hasn't happened in DV. But then, TSW's series of DLC also only add the same kind of runs, which to go by the sentiment on this board, is slowly getting even the staunchest fans of TSW bored with the franchise and feeling discontent over the lack of progress on the quality front.
