Hi folks, I have recently stepped into the world of train simulations to extend my passion for trains. Been playing TSW ( and several other games ) actively for the last 13 months. I bought TSC a while ago and gave it a try. I'm facing 2 specific issues, and need some suggestions over those. 1. The FPS is less than satisfactory despite lowering all the graphics settings. ( I'm able to run TSW just fine on this same PC with a consistent 45 - 60 FPS ). Please suggest if some mods/patches are required ( in case I'm missing something ) or if should I consider upgrading my PC. Specifications - Processor : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-10300H CPU @ 2.50GHz (8 CPUs), ~2.5GHz Memory : 16 GB GPU : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Operating System : Windows 10 Home Single Language 64-bit (10.0, Build 19044) 2. Please suggest me some good routes/locos. ( steam and third party ) to buy. I would prefer any route/loco. which is unique or has got a bit of history behind it. Country or time period doesn't matter to me. Any weird feature, unique traction, etc. would do.
For additional 3rd party content I use Armstrong Powerhouse for locos & rolling stock, for routes I mainly use DTG on Steam, for 3rd party routes I use Alan Thomson SIM (ATS) & For scenarios I use ATS. As for increasing FPS do you have an SSD? you seem to have enough RAM @ 16GB, make sure you kill any unnecessary apps running in the background, can you use the nVidia control panel to force Train Sim to use the GPU? Check free HD space, the page file could be getting low on space to use.
The best way to increase a collection for new TSC players is to buy older versions of the game through reseller codes. You can buy TS2017, TS2015, TS2021 and others at deep discount. Applying each code will download their core routes as DLC to your TSC setup.
Yes, that was the problem. Saw a ticket where this problem was resolved by a Windows setting to use GPU. Running at 60 FPS since then, all settings maxed out. Yes, it's an SSD Thanks, will look forward to that
Yup. Just make sure you’re getting a Steam code and that it is valid in your country. I have had good success from cdkeys and g2a.
Yes, you purchase an older version from HumbleBundle or one of the other many Steam key sellers and you're purchasing that years bundle of the core game + 3 routes, commonly (but not always) a UK route a US route and a GER route. You won't revert your core game back to say TS2018 it will still be the current TSClassic version but you will have the three routes. All you do is once you've purchased the key you enter into Steam via the "ADD A GAME > Activate a Product on Steam..." link at the bottom left of your Steam window.
To be completely clear you can't buy older editions in Steam but you can buy Steam keys for older editions through third parties which you can activate in Steam. Presuming the key is valid the routes and any other DLC from that edition will drop in to your collection as if you had bought them separately. Keeping in mind I'm mainly interested in British routes and trains... The Weardale and Teesdale Network in the '60s is the route I started with and still my favourite. A sprawling representation of the lines in South West County Durham, almost all of them now closed, centred on Bishop Auckland. Diesel only as it comes but there are several North Eastern and BR Standard class steam locomotives that would look very much at home and, with some allowances, the route itself would pass for almost any time between Nationalisation in 1948 and closure. I live in the area and think it captures the simple beauty of rural Durham well. There's much scope for freight and passenger operation- almost anything except high speed main line running and even then East Coast Main Line expresses would be diverted through Bishop on occasion. Railways don't come much more historic- I presume you have heard of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. WCML Over Shap represents the stretch of West Coast Main Line between Preston and Carlisle in the late '70s to mid '80s. Nicely detailed and more varied than I expected. I bought it with the Advanced Passenger Train but like the route very much on its own merits. I recommend the APT too BTW- a prototype train from a research project that developed systems for high speed rail (tilting, braking, wheel profiles, suspension etc.) the fruits of which were ultimately underused in Britain but benefit high speed railways the world over. Nothing throws British scenery at you faster. The Great British Railway Journeys pack is pretty good value for money with five routes for £25 (I don't know how that looks in your currency but it might be less than it was a few weeks ago!) and that's when there isn't a sale on- "Thou shalt not pay more than 50% of the usual price" is a personal motto. They're older routes but good- Settle-Carlisle is a bit linear but lovely, GEML has only one train (an EMU) so is just a commutor route as it comes but has much potential, Portmouth Direct is the newer of the two routes with that name running all the way in to Waterloo. Of the other two routes I have no experience with ECML- London to Peterborough but I have been able to try Chatham and Medway Valley Lines and liked what I saw. I intend to buy the pack just to get those two lines if I see it in a sale. Other older routes: WCML North (Carlisle to Glasgow) shows its age here and there and the three Career scenarios included are all broken in one way or another if that bothers you (it shouldn't) but is extensive and usually very cheap in sales- as a bonus it includes both the European and UK Loco's and Assets and US Loco's and Assets packs which are much used by Workshop scenario makers (you can get them separately but this is usually much the cheaper option). Western Lines of Scotland is lovely but steam only, in fact LMS 5MT only as it comes- get the Class 20 and Class 27 Diesels for some variety. If you're into steam The Riviera Line in the '50s has several GWR kettles from pannier tanks to King Class to get to grips with albeit in BR livery- I'd suggest getting the Western Hydraulics pack to add the WR's handsome Diesel loco's (and the Warship). Isle of Wight is small but charming and includes the steam railway. The Woodhead Line (original version) represents the '50s as steam was handing over to 1,500v DC electric loco's which were quirky and ultimately a technological dead end. From a third party Steam Sounds Supreme's Stainmore Shap and Eden Valley route is a towering achievement- vast and beautiful and a great companion to the W&T which it overlaps at Barnard Castle. At nearly £30 it's not cheap (SSS do have sales) but there's a very generous selection of steam loco's and rolling stock. The title doesn't even mention the line round Morcambe Bay which, slightly disappointingly, stops short of Ulverston rather than running the last few miles to Barrow though it would be churlish to complain. Given its size and scope the dependencies are not outlandish. Hope this is helpful.
Thanks for that... Of course YES! Enough for me to get this route. Read and saw a lot about that train so it's already on my wishlist. I regard that train as an amazing piece of British technology even though I'm not a Brit. ( or from any country officially represented in TSC for that matter ). Innovative enough for me to get my hands on. We're in the same boat for this... I've got the entire collection over there ( 173 GB at the moment ) so thanks but no Class 20 or 52 or Isle of Wight. Class 20 is the most interactive model in TSW so far ( if I'm not mistaken ). Also, every single Class 52 ( with every nameplate ) is present there. Yet I might consider other hydraulics at some point in time. Absolutely YES! Always looking forward to that... Thanks a lot for all the recommendations
Just a note that W&T does not include all of the main S&DR route just the section between Shildon and Darlington. The line, the bit that was designed to be worked by locomotives anyway, ran from Shildon via Darlington to Stockton which is why people who call it the Stockton to Darlington Railway are wrong and should be told so. If you look at a map, you'll note that Shildon to Darlo' makes up rather less than half of the original route and probably no more than a quarter if you include the stretches west of Shildon which used rope worked inclines before the deviation through Bishop Auckland opened. Still much of interest though including the Skerne bridge. You may have driven some of the rest in the Tees Valley route in TSW although it still doesn't go all the way to Stockton. If you're interested and have the dependencies DP Simulation has ECML North East and North East England version 3 which both cover the same area in the modern day. I have the first and it looks a little home made here and there but the view from the train is fine. The latter is more complete and looks good on YouTube but I don't have the dependencies.
Will keep that in mind before purchasing. Well, Yes I have! I might try that... depends on the rolling stock... BTW, is there a decent model of LNER-era Teak coaches?
I suggest looking at a few YouTube videos of the route before you buy. I'm not a big fan of the route. While the countryside is quite nice, I find the urban and rail side industrial areas unconvincing. Looking at building modelling you would think that the entire population of County Durham lived in small terrace houses or farmhouses. That wasn't true then and certainly isn't true now. While I'm not a native of the county my wife and her family come from the area, so I've spent quite a lot of time there.
I believe that the route is being updated to include the scenery completed on the Lakeside branch and I think extended to Ulverston.
Good advice when considering any route. I do live in the area and remain impressed. It's not perfect, the most noteable omissions to my mind are the station hotels and Town Hall in Spennymoor and some of the stations are missing crossovers, but it is seven years old now and given that, the size and scope of the route and the fact that it began as a home project by Dovetail's Derek Siddle to model Bishop Auckland Station using available assets which "just growd" (Derek's from Whitton Park/Etherley) I think it holds up. It may help that I was given it along with TS2016 at a launch event in Shildon. That's how I got started in TS actually. Watch out for Derek Siddle- he's an enabler. I'm very grateful to him. Goody goody gumdrops!
