Game Update Train Sim World 4 Game Update – Winter Core – February 2024

Hello folks, and welcome to February. The days are getting longer, spring is around the corner, and – perhaps most excitingly of all – we have a wide range of improvements and quality of life changes releasing today as part of a large core update, which includes an Open Beta for Formation Designer for Steam players.

You can expect to see improvements for Blackpool Branches, Maintalbahn, Centro Regional Railway Class 323, and many more!

Check out the Full Update Notes, and to whet your appetite, here are some of the highlights:

• Formation Designer (open beta) added for Steam and Epic players
  
• Mods created for Add-ons now work in the same way that Core mods do.
  
• Improvements to brightness on PIS screens, so they are more readable during day and night
• Multiple Free Roam fixes for locos that weren’t able to move after spawning
• Adjustments to Scoring thresholds across many routes to make Platinum medals more in line with expectations
• Added option to disable Traction Lock icon on Minimal HUD
• Upgraded GWE HST window to include new TSW4 rain effects, and fixed an issue whereby front wipers wouldn’t clear rain from windows
• Improvements to Bernina Line fog visuals
• Various Maintalbahn and BR 642 improvements

Please note: old mods may not work without updates from their author. As always, adding mods could introduce instability to the game, so when using mods following the update, add them one at a time and establish they are doing what you want and working well before proceeding with the next mod.

These will be rolling out to players on all platforms over the course of the next 24 hours – consoles this morning, and PC later this afternoon, so keep your eyes peeled for downloads!


Formation Designer – Open Beta Starts Today!



Alongside this week’s update, we have launched the Formation Designer beta for Steam players, and we would like to invite you to share your feedback on the new feature, reporting any issues you experience and letting us know what you think!

What is Formation Designer?

Formation Designer is a new feature in Train Sim World 4 which will allow you to assemble your own consists and formations for use in Scenario Planner and Free Roam. This will increase customisation options to create the perfect Scenario and remove the need to spawn different preset formations into the world and rearrange them manually (although that can be quite fun in itself!).

In its final release, Formation Designer will also allow for your created consists and combinations to be shared via Creators Club, similar to Livery Designer and Scenario Planner.




How Do I Access It?

If you are a player on Steam or Epic, once you have updated Train Sim World 4 after today, you will be able to access Formation Designer through the Creators Club area in the Main Menu.

Please note this beta is only available for Steam and Epic players. For players of other platforms, we’ll release Formation Designer when we’ve had a chance to review initial beta feedback, and we’re happy it’s ready.

Things to Note

Please be aware that some formations won’t work intentionally due to gauges of track, couplings and braking systems. An example of this is the American SD40-2 with the British Railways Plank Wagon.

As a rule of thumb, everything you would expect to work in a realistic situation should work in Formation Designer!

Feedback and Reporting Issues

You can find an introduction to the open beta, with a list of current functionalities within Formation Designer, as well as known issues, here. Please make sure you’ve taken a look before reporting any issues.

Any feedback for Formation Designer, whether it's discussion, your thoughts, your latest creation or reporting an issue, we’d like to invite you to get involved in our dedicated Formation Designer forums. With thousands of possible combinations, we can’t wait to see what you get up to.

Happy Designing!


TSW Survey – Get Involved!



We need your help! Get involved for the chance to win an Add-on of your choice.

In amongst all the updates, streams, and sales during the Festival of Rail, we’ve compiled a survey, designed to give you the opportunity to share your thoughts on Train Sim World, and help us shape the future of our games.

It covers your thoughts on Train Sim World 4 features, recent Add-ons releases, and your thoughts and opinions on future content we’ve often seen mentioned on our community spaces.

You can take part in the survey here. Thank you in advance for taking the time to share your thoughts. The survey will close on Sunday, February 18th.

For your time, we’ll be offering 20 lucky entrants (chosen at random from all those who enter) the chance to win an Add-on of their choice. Good luck and thank you for your continued support.

(Our Competition Terms and Conditions can be found here).


West Somerset Railway Remastered

In case you missed it, we also Remastered the much-loved West Somerset Railway update last week (click here to find out the details). Thanks for everyone who’s shared screenshots of them enjoying the new Steam Gala timetable, TOD4 skies, and graphical updates. Here are some of our favourite shots from you.


(Credit: /u/ShamrockOneFive, Reddit)


(Credit: Pipe, forums)


(Credit: railroadamerica, forums)

All the best,
Jan

 

Players on Steam platforms should now begun to receive this Winter Core update.

 

Happy Friday everyone,

The winners of our Train Sim World survey have been notified. If you participated in the survey and provided your email address, please check your inbox to see if you have won. Make sure to check your spam folder as well.

Enjoy your weekend,
Jan

 

Good afternoon everybody,

if you received an email about winning the Train Sim World survey raffle and haven't replied yet, please do! Most of our winners have gotten back to us, but we're still waiting for a few replies. Make sure to check your inbox and your spam folder.

All the best,
Jan