Ok, so it's no secret people are unhappy with the old, outdated route system of most train simulators. Well, what if you didn't have to spend $100 just to get a couple routes and some locomotives for your favorite area? This could be accomplished by having the player purchase the base game with no content, and have the player choose 3 routes for free, then have all subsequent routes paid. Then, Dovetail could still charge more for extra routes, but you would no longer, like me, buy a base game just to get single route DLC and end up with routes you'll just never play. Personally, I only play American routes, especially modern freight, so I don't use the German and British routes included with TSW 2. Also, the lack of variety in American routes needs to be addressed. Instead of having a complex system of layering in rolling stock and locomotives from different routes, they could just develop a base library of cars and locomotives, and simply turn the rarity of the rolling stock up or down, depending on the route. This would enable much more realistic manifest consists, power variety, and would allow the DTG or whoever is making the route more time to polish the scenery itself. What I mean is, every North American route could utilize a base library of several locomotive and freight car models, building on the already existing stock we've seen on Sand Patch Grade, Sherman Hill, Cane Creek, and other similar routes. It might require a specific roadname or two to be painted on it every now and then, but it would save the time of modelling a car from scratch. For example, Railbox boxcars are a staple of American industrial railroading, and in my opinion would be a great addition to American routes in TSW 2. Dovetail should look into acquiring licenses for large companies like TTX, CEFX, TILX, etc. that comprise a major amount of rolling stock in the US.
