Last year we had the season of reveals, but there has been some turmoil in the community about the quality of releases and the game in general. We can't pretend that we haven't seen what's going on and there's a great video by Train Sim Society about it: With this in mind as well as the general quality of recent releases I feel that the community would be more interested in a Season of Bug Fixes this year. Now I know it's not glamorous and it's not going to generate an immediate income, but the business case that I would make for this is that trust and goodwill among the players that I know is running very low. Some more effort put into shoring up what we already have and fixing the bugs/processes would mean that future add-ons would be better received. Would it be worth having a state of the train sim chat like we had in the old days? Yes, it's awkward, but we're a forgiving and non-toxic community, we can handle the truth, what we don't like is people dancing around. This was a fantastic Q&A session, as were many of the ones done by Sam back in the day. No snazzy clips and graphics, no huge production, just a great honest chat and transparent dialog. Did we like everything we heard in these sessions? Of course not! We were told in one that there was going to be no multiplayer, it was a shame, but we moved on as a community and enjoyed the game for what it was! So can we please go back to the foundations? Have a wonderful Season of Bug Fixes, get that transparency back and have TSW as something that as fans we can be proud of! I'm not writing this all to be mean, I want to be helpful, we all do... but we need to be heard and understood, we understand that there are business pressures and things can't all be fixed immediately (some may be completely unfixable) but there has to be something that can be done to help here, please?
I appreciate your optimism, but I don't think DTG will ever return to its foundations for a very simple reason: DTG now (and it's actually been quite a while) reports to focus entertainment which demands quick profits and quick money, and above all, so I would say that everything will continue exactly as it is (and in fact, it will only get worse) the fact that thomas dlcs and metro rivals exist don't let me sound like I'm exaggerating when I say this
I think you're right, but I hope you're not. It all depends on if the great people that we know are at DTG can convince their overlords that the community can be a great resource and that doing things well will be rewarded. I would personally point to doing things the way they used to do as to a big part of the reason that DTG was worth the purchase and as such pushing for different things could derail the acquisition. Personally I think we have to try, we know that there are some great people at DTG and that they want to make the best world of train simulation that they can.
This is not going to happen unless DTG and Focus get a clear monetary incentive to prioritise fixing existing content over churning out new DLCs. Also known as "voting with your wallet". If enough people continue to buy broken content, nothing will change.
Sadly I fear nothing will change. There are a number of threads popped up expressing discontent at the state of things in addition to the well established “Enough is Enough”. But apart from a couple of “noted” comments by the CM’s, no one actually from the production side has rocked up to give any assurance our concerns are unjustified. I mean, I don’t expect the EP to be active in every thread, but when doubts are being cast on whether there are any programmers left at DTG, whether they have been diverted to other projects such as Metro Rivals or they have reached a technical skills ceiling, a polite “Sorry chaps/chapesses” you got that bit wrong, we are beavering away, here’s a list of priorities”, would go a long way to assuaging some of the doubt.
It’s a bit of a catch 22 situation, do DTG put their publishers first or their customers? Things do seem to have got worse since Focus came on board. But what is concerning me now is that the general malaise has spread to the 3rd party devs as well. With HIS it was shoddy workmanship and a laziness to do the bear minimum to sell the item, whilst with AAS it was a poorly tested product that was bug ridden from the word go. What was particularly galling about that release was that it had been months awaiting publication and the devs should have used that time to properly test it. So all in all it’s not looking good for the future and it seems last years botched WCMLS was a sign of things to come. If you’re going to charge top dollar then give us top quality.
Even if Focus Entertainment injects 10 million into DTG, they still need to find, hire and keep qualified programmers to fix the core issues plagueing the game since its inception. Creating and texturing models isn't the weak spot, it is all in the programming, scripting and debugging to make the game engine work as intended. The ' ultimate in realism ' is far easier shown off in photoshopped or AI enhancend clips and stills. Whether the choice for UE is just remains to be considered 10 years since the first alpha versions. But upgrading or even changing game engine isn't going to solve anything if the core concepts are wrong and the core team of programmers not competent or not allowed to finish their jobs properly. DTG's management? Now subordinate to Focus's management and their business plans? In the end it all comes down to money: how much are these parties willing to spend? Hire one, two, three, ten or fifty programmers to get a job done at 100% within the given time limit? How much does the customer want to pay to play the game under the provided EULA? If I could get my money back on TSW by having DTG buy back my license and refunding my purchase on the ground of customer dissatisfaction, I'll be first in line for this refund.
Can’t help but compare with SCS long awaited release of Nordic Horizons for ETS2. I played a bit of it last night and they have really pulled out all the stops to deliver a first class and polished DLC, for half the price of a TSW route DLC. Within the constraints of the 1:18 scale what I’ve seen so far is superb. Looks like new terrain textures for the northern landscapes and custom buildings in many of the towns and cities. A two month community event with worthwhile awards at the end if successful. Going to get addicted to this…
This whole bug fixing thing is so subjective. Posts are always written like there's never a bug fixed. Is everyone patch blind? Yes there's blurry textures, yes there's memory things but there's been ongoing acknowledgement. Are they complete no, are they in hand, I suspect yes. Do things niggle me yes. I get the value of feedback but at least give some acknowledgement as whining like nothing is being done is inaccurate... Here's something to refresh... https://live.dovetailgames.com/live...es/article/tsw5-post-release-patch-18-summary Latest road map..... updates.... The season of bug fixes is actively in flow for us all
I think DTG level of fixing bugs are focused on making sure the game runs, to make sure the game is stable and doesn't crash. DTG always seem to be on the back foot when it comes to fixing bugs, so either TSW is extremely problematic and they are struggling to keep it running or they don't have the resources to do the fixes? Comes down to two things... Can't fix it Or Won't fix it And each wonderful DLC added puts more work or strain on the system and the teams trying to keep it running. I seen a DTG live stream the other night with Matt and it was all going so well until Matt cut to external view and passengers started exiting the train through the trains closed doors and onto the track. At which point Matt very quickly decided to change the view to internal, did make me laugh, here they are trying to sell another DLC and one of the many bugs in the game wasn't helping
Nothing new here about 3rd party products, look at Rivet or Skyhook products of the past, also full of bugs. This is just the current state of the gaming industry today, discusting it is.
Unfortunately its not a widespread case of 'patch blindness' Yes we get patchs.. But since TSW6 came around the only patch that has actually worked 100% was the 'relese day sound drop fix' (after it being reported hour 1 of the early access) As much as I love this game.. in the Long term.. TSW is only heading one direction.. Sabre care about profits and profits only (just look at bug fixing on previous sabre backed titles) DTG have multiple CM's yet as another poster said... where is the official statement covering recent events.. nipping any speculation in the bud.. and keeping the ship steady.. Where is the public statement on brum-crewe (yes we know its delayed till at least December.. but does 'Joe casual' who isnt on the forums and paid full price for a broken product weeks ago) This Discord becoming the "new hub" for contact... you have to ask why?... so that DTG cant be held accountable on a public fourm anymore? What started as a passion project for the love of trains and being able to share that on a platform made for enthusiasts has become just another corporate cog in a portfolio.. Sad times.. but the dream died long ago.. we are seeing that now in the TSW6 era!
