No real need for an introduction, the title says all that needs to be said. I'm going to take the time (however long) to express my thoughts on TSW's performance this year (and back to release) as a game, and how it should be looking forward. NOTE: • I'll only be talking about what DLCs I own • Even though I discuss Console throughout this post, I'm posting it in PC Discussion, mostly because it's usually busier. Let's begin: Contents Route Length Variety Rolling Stock 'Rush Hour' - Failure or Success? + Next-Gen Optimisation 3rd Party Performance Preserved Collection The Preservation Crew's Work Looking Ahead (Conclusion) Route Length One thing that has to be said about TSW2 is that it builds upon TSW2020 in most aspects. TSW2020 mostly had shorter routes, with some stretching out a bit more. TSW, however - partially thanks to the 'High-Speed' focus at the start of it's lifespan, has had some routes which are fast paced, and fairly long. Clinchfield, LGV Mediterraneé and Sherman Hill come to mind, and Dresden could have been there - however thinking about it, it's still quite long. Whilst two of the above mentioned routes are freight routes - without stations and such - however LGV does have stations, and despite not having many, it still is a fun experience to sit back, admire the TGV Duplex EMU and enjoy the ride -no? Just me? Alright. Seriously though, whilst the suggestion end of this forum may be littered with suggestions for 100, 200, 300 mile routes - the average player isn't going to end up driving 500 miles in a casual session of the game. The greatest factor in "length" for TSW - in my opinion - is time. The length of a service/scenario. Most routes we have are good for that. Variety of Trains and Services This leans into my next point - the Variety of rolling stock in the game is poor in some places, good in others. Before I go on, I appreciate that both Sherman Hill and Dresden - Chemnitz have had brand new rolling stock added to them, which helps increase variety. UK The UK's biggest offender for Variety is Cathcart Circle - I love it, but not enough to go on record saying it's varied enough. The Cathcart Circle has one unit - the Class 314, which is totally appropriate for the route. Overall, the Circle and the Branches feel alive enough, even with one unit - it's not too busy in real life. However, as soon as you enter that approach to Glasgow Central, you feel it. You'll get 2/3 Trains in the Station, and the bridge is all yours. In real life, there are usually about 8-10 in the station and 1-3 on the bridge (my own estimate from my experience as a passenger). However, thanks to the lack of appropriate stock, I can see why. I don't blame you, but it's worth bringing up. The Bakerloo Line is not much better, with the West Coast Mainline alongside it being totally dead. However, like the above Cathcart, the appropriate stock is lacking as of now, so it gets a pass. The biggest winners are the Brighton Mainline (BML) and Southeastern High-speed (SEHS) The BML has two trains core to it - The Class 377 (/1, /4) and the Class 387 (/2). Having played the game on Xbox One until yesterday (Christmas Day), I experienced the route with just these. However, with even just these two, variety - in services, in scenarios, in rolling stock, heck, even in colour, was there, just not nearly as much as what PC/S|X/PS5 get. Drawing Layers from GWE, WSR (I think), SEHS and the 465 DLC for SEHS, Brighton Mainline is varied. Victoria is a fine example - The Southeastern platforms have variety in the 465 and 375 - the Southern/GX have the 377/387 respectively. Variety isn't core to the experience, but it sure makes it more immersive, and enjoyable. Southeastern - despite it's flaws - also masters this. The 375 operates Regional services to Gravesend and Rochester from Rainham and Faversham, bound for off-map destinations, with a mix of full length and short hops. The 465 has the above, but far less full length runs. The 395 has the full length of the DLC, from London to Faversham, with the Express on HS1 transitioning into any other regional train on the traditional lines. It's variety within a service! Brilliant, right? I think it's great. SEHS gets a point in this regard for me. Germany I can only really comment on HRR and Dresden. Dresden - Riesa has plenty of rolling stock built into it, as well as the layer with the ICE3 - that everyone has - for some Intercity Express action between Riesa and Dresden. The route also has a mix of S-Bahn, including the branch to Meißen, Regional, Freight, Express, and Shunting. It's perfect. Hauptstrecke Rhein Ruhr (I know, it's a preserved route, but still) is a route I picked up today - and one of the first things I noticed was that - on the S-Bahn section around Essen, trains were passing every few minutes. At Essen Hbf, I was greeted by a train pulling in, another pulling out, and one standing in a bay platform, which was to the front and left of me. That's the variety - it may just be the 422 and 425, however, it felt alive. It wasn't every train doing the same thing, they all had places to be, things to do. That's what I like. USA I can only comment on Boston Sprinter, however, despite it's Linear nature, it does this well, especially at Boston South Station, where trains move in and out constantly. That's all I really have to say. Rolling Stock SPT Livery my own recreation Played into by the above point, Rolling Stock is a key part of any train simulation, it's the heart and soul of it. Accuracy, with sounds, physics and models are all the core in creating a good train, and overall, Dovetail, you've done a good job. The 314 - yes, I'm going back to this - is highly accurate. The interior is bang on, the Exterior, bang on, The cab - bang on. The sounds, pretty good. The physics - feels like the real thing. The 314s were deployed on my local line - The Inverclyde Line - for their final days (not actually days, you know what I mean) and I can say it feels very realistic, when I find myself in the passenger's seat, in game. The 377 on BML has a great soundset as well, just, well that's all I can really say, tbh. Rush Hour - Failure, or Success? + Optimisation for Next-Gen Consoles Since the Rush Hour release, I've played over two Consoles - Xbox One S, and Xbox Series X. Whilst the latter is brand new to me, I've familiarised myself with the experience. Rush Hour - on the older generations - was Painful. Dresden ran relatively well when the ICE was off, and I was going away from the city. Inbound? More like crashbound. Boston ran well on the Last Gen for me. BML was snails paced out of Victoria, and then got better slowly. In to Victoria, guaranteed crash. Now, on Series X, Whilst I haven't tried Boston Sprinter, The Brighton Mainline runs butter smooth, I haven't even had a stutter in nor out of Victoria - yet. Dresden as well is really smooth, and performs really well. So, that's the performance issues on my end addressed. The routes themselves are a mixed bag. So, I'm going to save myself time and effort and split them into categories and give them my personal ratings: 1) Variety? • Are services varied? • Is Rolling Stock varied? Boston: 7/10 Stoughton and Providence, the F40 one way, the Cab Car the other. Amtrak running up and down in the ACS-64 as well. 7/10. Dresden: 10/10 All those trains in the base package Brighton: 10/10 When you have the layers, it becomes 10/10 for variety. A solid 8.5 without, though. 2) Rush Hour? • Does it feel like a Rush Hour route? • Is there a good chunk of Commuter action? • Does the line feel busy? Boston: 8/10 Boston South feels really, really alive. Dresden: 8/10 For a more rural route at the end of an IC/ICE route, Dresden feels alive. A great variety of stock helps this as well. Brighton: 10/10 Thanks Joe. 3) Length, Branches and Station Count • Good Length? • Branches? • Station Amount? Boston: 7/10 Decent amount, decent length. Stoughton branch is a nice addition too. That's all I have to say. Dresden: 9/10 For a more rural route in a 'Rush Hour' pack, Dresden has plenty of stations. It also has the wonderful Meißen branch, and the Chemical Plant, among others. Brighton: 10/10 Loads of stations. 50 miles to stretch the train's (proverbial) legs. 4) Rolling Stock • Quality of included rolling stock? • Sounds? Physics? Boston: 7/10 Locos are nice to drive, but having been to America I can't really jump to any conclusions, so a conservative 7/10. Dresden: 9/10 The upgrades to all these units, from their older versions, really show. I'm personally have nothing bad to say against them. I've never been to Germany but at least this time I can compare some of these units to older versions. Brighton: 9/10 377 Sounds are far improved from East Coastway, and the 387 is fairly realistic feeling and sounding, and a very fun drive. 5) Route Building • Does the route look and feel like the real thing? • Are stations and scenery assets/models of a good quality? • Does it feel authentic? Boston: 5/10 Boston has plenty of things that I can tell are missing, just from looking at Google Earth. Also there are plenty of things that just look plain wrong. Dresden: 9.5/10 Wonderful night lighting, beautiful scenery and towns, Meißen is the Cherry on the cake. Not getting a ten though, because a few aspects could be improved. Brighton: 8/10 Stations are mostly good, and considering the amount of them I can cut DTG some slack for this one. Overall, I think Rush Hour is/was a success, just with a bumpy road to get it where it wanted to be. 3rd Party Performance Rivet Games The Isle of Wight in it's current state is a pleasant route for a casual drive. At launch, it was a bit less so. Arosa seems (I don't have it) to be a decent route after the fixes that went alongside the RhB pack. Before that: no. [Can't comment on 1938 stock] West Cornwall is a pleasant route, but plagued by a poor Class 150. It has a good model (even though it ain't got a clue if it's Regional Railways, FGW (Inside of Doors) or GWR (Poster) era), but poor Physics and Sounds. If Rivet fixed these, Cornwall would be - by far - their best route yet. Skyhook I don't own any of their content, however from what I've seen Cane Creek is decent now things have been fixed. The 187, on the other hand... TSG G6 was good from what I've seen and heard. If I get RRO it's a target, put it that way. Just Trains Just Throwing my thoughts in here about Just Trains. Whilst I'm of the "Wait and See" camp, I'm also very excited for one of TS' top 3rd Parties to be joining TSW, and I look forward to seeing what their first project will be. Welcome to Train Sim World, Just Trains. Preserved Collection The Preserved Collection is one thing I'm incredibly thankful for. Not just because I can carry over my TSW2020 content (that was carried over), not only because it's now being upgraded to TSW2 standards (see below segment), but because it allows us to keep the original TSW Content around to compare where we were, and where we are now. I own Rapid Transit, GWE, HRR (as of today), NTP (As of May), East Coastway (as of Last August). If it weren't for Preserved Collection, none of the above would be playable without having to boot up TSW2020. Thank you, Dovetail. The Preservation Crew's Work I'll say this now. In my opinion, the Preservation Crew is one of - maybe the - best things about TSW2. They bring old routes up to standard and sometimes beyond. They but so much care into these routes it's ridiculous. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't find RT bareable. They really do take the old stuff and make wonders. Well done for everything you've done this year, Preservation Crew. Looking Ahead (The Conclusion) Class Two hours ago I didn't have a clue I was about to write this. I'm glad I did. While I may have cut a few corners to save time, and I've also got far, far more to say about the game's state, I wanted to make my feelings clear about what I see in the game's past, and it's future. Firstly, we should diversify the portfolio of Train Sim World 2. Whilst I have a vested interest in saying no to new countries, as it keeps the UK - and by Extension my own Scotland - in a leading position in the race for the next route. However, maybe we could see Japan? Or the Netherlands? Or we could expand on France? Or visit Austria/Czechia? Get some Italian High-Speed? Even if these are one-offs, I think it would make the game far better. The variety ↑, the new prospects for the game? Think about it. I also think we (the players) should have the ability to explore the stations and area more again. Since TSW2 came out that freedom to explore has slowly but surely been taken away. Let's bring it back. That's why we have "World" in Train Sim World - it's the "World" of "Train Sim". Anyways, I could say more but i don't want this to drag on too much. As always, Thanks for Reading, and a Happy New Year's when it comes.
