A little bug bear of mine, how come so many tsw routes are set in a certain year but the timetable doesn’t correspond? I know some people don't mind this, but personally it just doesn’t sit right with me that some routes are set in, say, 2018, and have a 2021 timetable. Just me who thinks this?
It’s the reverse for the majority of routes, Pre-COVID timetables are generally fuller, I’m not sure what they’re like now but that was the reason for a lot of routes. The LIRR 2.0 timetable is modern whilst the route is set in 2018 for the simple fact that DTG did want to update the whole route to what it looks like now. Something to do with the M3, 7 & 9 all existing on the route at that time I think
There is already a whole thread about this, but the M3, M7, and M9 all still operate on the LIRR to this day. Over 100 M3s are still in service. They simply didn't want to put in the work to update the route to today's standards.
The timetables won't always 100% represent the time period of the route, sometimes they are fudged a little for playability reasons. If timetables were 100% realistic then they would be boring.
Sometimes a route in X time period is easier to get resource for, to understand, get photos for etc, where as the timetable is perhaps better at a slightly different time period - or we can't get the equivalent one, but can two or three year previous one. Option is to use the authentic timetable from slightly the wrong time, or make it up. The dev process is complex, and there are often many decisions made that are compromising one are or another in the interests of the whole being completable to an overall better level. Matt.
Personally I don't mind unless it's very anachronistic. I like to think of it as just a use of the artistic license. I reckon a tolerance of five or six years is within the realm of plausibility, but beyond that and it gets harder to justify. That said, this screenshot is anachronistic in multiple ways as it has a combination of liveries that stretched over a ten year period and that could not have happened in real life, but I did it on purpose to give the scenario some more variety. Then again, that one's not being released to the public and was just for me to mess around in. If I was going to to release it, I don't think it would be acceptable, especially if I am claiming it to be realistic. Ultimately it's up to each individual to decide when it comes to this I think.
