Hello everybody, Hope we're all doing well. Lately I've been debating whether to get TSW3 or TSC. I understand it's my choice at the end of the day and I've decided to do a sorta pros and cons list. TSW3 Pros: It's modern. Some fantastic routes from the past: ie: 1960s Liverpool to Crewe. TSW3 Cons: Liverpool to Crewe as an example: It doesn't go to Euston....Sure..the original Euston station doesn't exist anymore...and I understand TSW3 is limited in extentions (though they did a good job with the SEHS route though I would have liked to see it go to Margate via Canterbury West and to London Victoria.) No consist editor: I would love to put different coaches on the locos. No route editor: This has been discussed multiple times so I won't bore you with a rant on it. Personally I find adding AI locos in the scenario planner difficult. TSC Pros: It has a route and consist editor. Longer routes. More choice of locomotive add-ons (Caledonia Works models look fantastic, and some locomotive add ons I've never heard of before.) TSC Cons: Many old Armstrong Powerhouse Sound Packs have been discontinued. Some models look a little outdated (understandable on that being a reason why the old sound packs have been discontinued) And yes, I understand one's older then the other, and at the end of the day I could have both. It's my hope that perhaps we can get more routes and locos for TSW3 (Class 390, 370, 350, GT3, GWR Locos, Metropolitan/District lines etc) I would love to try my hand at making a route in TSC, and perhaps in either sim, make a Railway Series (though TSC I think is a little more custom friendly.) Well that's all from me for now. Daz
TSW3 for me as I’m on console (Xbox series x). I do like doing the Service timetable, I’m not sure if that is available on TSC ? TBH if I had a PC I’d get TSC ( but only if I can keep my Xbox lol ). Difficult choice, but a nice one, as you’re not going to be disappointed with either one in my opinion.
Get both in the steam sale for less than the price of one would cost normally. In fact get TSC in the sale and get TSW from Humble Bundle: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/..._tile_index_1_c_trainsimworld3megahaul_bundle
They are both good. Personally I like TSC better. I like the variety of different stock and downloading scenarios set up by people that have full stations. I’m not so bothered by graphics. On the TSW side the graphics are way better and if you prefer running timetables instead of scenarios then again this is for you. There is just less choice of what to drive and for the most part shorter routes. Personally, I’d get the humble bundle offer and try TSW first as it’s a cheap way to get TSW and a load of DLC. Then if you want to, try TSC later.
For me I enjoy TSW open world gameplay way more than TS. Plus the visuals are night and day, however if you want to enjoy longer routes and more loco variety you can chose TSC.
Tsc is good for variety, more 3rd parties, more steam, editors and longer routes. However, you're only limited to scenarios. You can make your own but I find it extremely tedious. You can also download them or get it from 3rd parties but the requirements are ridiculous in some of them. The lack of a 24hr timetable draws me away. Ap should still work. I have some sound packs and they just work fine. Tsw is good if you want better looking graphics and a 24hr timetable and loads of gameplay. However, routes tend to be shorter, less 3rd parties, less features, no editor, etc. I prefer tsw because it runs better and has lots to do.
Cheers for the replies guys...wow I think this is the first thread that I've had a lot of replies to...definitely something to think about...both have their pros and cons but at the end of the day...it's all about enjoying it..and who doesn't like trains?
It doesn't hurt to have both. For it's price during the sale, even buying the base game is a good way to know if it's something you'll like. Just don't buy stuff to expand your collection or just cuz it's on sale as it'll eat through your earnings extremely quickly. This is from experience. Buy something if you truly want it
TSC is very good but it is mainly the steam content which keeps me using it. The better graphics and the service mode timetable for me makes TSW the main choice and where I am likely to spend most time in the future. With TSC I spent 90% of my time making scenarios (which often don't work as intended) and 10% driving and I have lost the motivation for it now. Plus with TSW I like the ability to walk around. I do feel there are some experiences in TSC which sadly will never be replicated in TSW.
So I have both and I will tell you and love them both for different reasons. But main reason I like TSW is time table mode. And that’s basically the main reason. TSC I like the flexibility of the game. To be honest if TSC had time table mode my answer might be different
Personally I think TSW is the better of the two but the amout of different content on TSC does keep it close behind. The service mode in TSW does make it better value for money and less faffing about though.
You know you don't need AP sound packs, right? If a scenario uses them you can use Locoswap to swap them out.
TSC with Armstrong Powerhouse stuff if you want a proper simulation experience. TSW3 if you just want to pick up and play. Please don’t make the mistake of prioritising graphics over simulation/gameplay.
Er, there's a lot of good stuff outside Armstrong Powerhouse. They have a narrow focus and even within that area there's good stuff made by other developers.
Both have good and bad points, but all I will say is this… I have a massive collection of routes in TSC, many of the classics and even bought a couple in the Easter sale. However I generally play it for a couple of days and end up back in TSW. Just something about the overall experience and I think having the full day timetable set out for you trumps the handful of scenarios most TSC routes come with, every time. I do exactly the same with Run 8 and indeed the other sims. Play for a few days but then my mouse pointer is inexorably drawn back to the TSW3 icon. Is there a Journey mode I need to advance? Can I finish the mastery on this route? Can I delve in the timetable and find a hidden treat on one of the layers? Will Quick Play bring me something I might not have thought of running otherwise? If it ever came down to a tussle for HD space between TSW and TSC, then in all likelihood TSC would be the one to go or get severely curtailed.
If you ask in the TSW forum, expect mainly recommendations for TSW3. If you ask in the TS forum, expect recommendations for TS. Just go with the one you think is right, or even better get both when you can as then you don't need to evaluate the pros and cons.
TSC is just incredibly dated at this point, in both visuals, mechanics and UI design. It can also struggle on modern hardware. The only thing keeping it relevant currently is it's incredible variety and ammount of addons. The lack of a timetable mode, and being completely reliant on scenarios if you want to stop at more than one location makes it fairly tedious to use. TSW, while having it's faults, is the much better package over all. It's just severely lacking in content comparatively. We need about double the current ammount of content for it to really be in a good place.
I'd disagree on the visuals if you invest in RW Enhancer 2. With this installed the visuals are actually better than TSW3 in just about every respect, clarity, sharpness and especially lighting. What is more the routes are far better detailed with objects in TSC and for me the trees and foliage look far more lifelike. I have a problem with TSW3 trees in that they just don't look realistic to me, wooded areas look more like gardens with mature trees dotted everywhere like a park with manicured grass in between. When you look at woods from a passing train you don't see individual trees but rather just mass of foliage, TSC does this better. Update TSC with mods and you have far superior looking game which is why a large number of serious train fans consider TSC as a4 course meal in a good restaurant and TSW3 as McDonalds. Of course you also get far longer routes with more branch lines and more rolling stock.
Also to consider is that TSW is turn on and play. Everything needed to run the route, comes with the route. Yes, you do get extras with layers from other routes, but consider them a bonus. With TSC, you get a few scenarios with a route. You can download extra scenarios from well known websites but often I'll spend more time looking for requirements and spending actual money on requirements, than actually playing the game.
You can get TSC looking acceptable with RW Enhancer 2. But it's not possible to make it look as good, or better than TSW from a pure visual fidelity standpoint. It's just an old engine. All of the models and textures used in TSC are of a lower poly count, and a lower texture resolution due to when they were created. Compare pretty much any train to the same train in TSW3, and the poly/detail counts aren't even comparable. The routes do have more "clutter" and "content" I will grant, but the individual quality of the objects detracts massively from the overall appearance. I'm also not sure why it's always the case in simulator communities when people that won't move to the newer versions consider themselves the "serious" simmers. Was exactly the same in the flight sim community when MSFS 2020 came out. All the people in Xplane and P3D calling themselves the "serious" simmers, despite the new product being massively better in most ways.
I agree with this 100%. I have both TSW3 and TSC with the RW enhancer 2 and the AP weather 2.0 I would say It actually looks fantastic. I don't want to get into the TSW vs TSC since I love them both.
TSC definitely has it's place still, purely from a content perspective. It's content library is truly massive, which allows for a lot more things to be done.
As I’ve said I prefer TSC, but I have RW Enhancer 2 and a load of enhancement packs and I wouldn’t claim the graphics are better than TSW3. It can be very good for such an old game, but TSW3 is way ahead in my opinion. Maybe it’s because I’m a bit of a techy type, but finding all the requirements for TSC scenarios and making it work is half the fun for me. I like to mess around with stuff and change stuff around. I don’t much like timetables. As others have said both good In different ways. Get them both cheap while you can.
TSW for me as you can use it in Steam, Xbox and also PC without Steam. Love the fact you can walk around the coaches and stations etc. However I too would love to use different coaches on the locos. Still love TSC, but will invest more in TSW3 in the future. Looking forward to another heritage route for TSW3 hopefully SVR.
What? Scenarios are far superior than anything in TSW. The game can be very stable if you know what you’re doing with it (I will admit it can take a while to get everything set up). Visually it is not even close to outdated in fact I would say some stuff looks better than TSW, certainly texture wise. The thing keeping is ‘relevant’ is the insane amount of third party developers than are making assets, routes, trains, scenarios and gameplay. Not to mention DTG is still regularly bringing out content for it. In fact in recent months there has been a massive push to get the game more stable overall and to keep supporting it. All things that are severely lacking in TSW. It’s here to stay, this idea that TSC is ‘outdated’ is just nonsense.
idk if anyone mentioned it already but here's another TSW3 pro: you can walk around everywhere, in the trains, on the stations, more freedom!
It's objectively outdated. It's from 2009, it's 14 years old which is pretty much an eternity in 3D game development. It's been polished up with some improvements, but the underlying engine is old. You can like it, that's completely fine, it has it's place and it's good at it. But the visual fidelity between TSC, and TSW isn't a matter for debate. TSW has higher poly, and higher texture assets over all, as well as much better lighting and UI. TSC maps can contain more assets, which give a better representation of a given area, but the individual assets are worse. Neither game has what would be considered an "art style" as both are trying to represent what things actually should look like, and in that regard TSW 3 is superior. To get TSC up to the minimum acceptable visual level, you need to buy TSC base, AP Weather, AP Track pack and RW Enhancer 2. All of those together already cost more than buying TSW 3 and several addons,while still not matching TSW 3 in the visual department.
I agree, I use TSC for driving the Class 800 around, and the Welsh routes. It 100% has it's place, and it's good at what it does. It's just not at the same visual level as TSW3, and nor should it be expected to be. It's an old game.
This is a really good question. i only have tsw3, because i'm on ps4 console and not pc. if i had a pc i'd definitely consider tsc.. i think the graphics aren't as strong and the lack of timetable isn't ideal.. but i love the idea of being able to drive such a wide variety of routes, and longer routes too.. if i could afford it i'd probably do it just so i can drive the ECML that said, tsw is a much better option with the 24 hour timetable, and so long as dtg keep adding routes (and on a personal wish keep supporting ps4!) then the strength in depth on tsw will only get stronger
Problem is DTG just keeps reusing the same trains over and over again in TSW, and so the catalogue is not building up and people keep having to go back to TSC for most of what they want to do. TSW could have had so much more variety by now if they would just go that extra mile and add something that’s actually new not just a reskin.
TSC main strong point is that it does steam traction much better and more of it, than TSW does currently or likely to do in the future. Unless TSW4/The Big Summer Bundle includes some unexpected surprises.
Outdated may be a bit harsh, but I agree with your overall point. The physics as well is a great example of how TSC is outdated compared to TSW. With Simugraph the trains operate more realistically and the difference between the games gets more noticeable the longer the train is.
The one thing that TSC offers over TSW is of course the route editor, though that in itself is long overdue a QOL overhaul.
Adding to my previous posting. I would love to have a few more steam engines in TSW3. Maybe a Manor or Hall class and definitely a Prairie would be superb,
A Pannier tank or Jinty would make my day, remember the 1970's Triang-Hornby ones with the smoke generators. Used to stink the house out especially when I ran out of the special oil and dumped 3 in 1 in the funnel instead!
Definitely agree with you there...then we can have a cheeky tank engine in the yards (Jk) I'm dying to see a Terrier puff into TSW3. (Pardon the pun)
Another advantage of TSW - it is much quicker to load, both starting the game from Windows and loading a run. TSC especially 64 bit can take a couple of minutes just to reach the initialisation screen, then it trawls through various scenario databases before landing you in the main menu. Loading a graphically intense route can take even longer, if it doesn't fall over with an OOM error - something I can't recall TSW ever doing.
TSW will kill off TSC eventually, but as it is now TSC is here to stay to be honest, unless -DTG add longer routes - DTG fix the scenario editor -More third party content on TSW
Not really. Rail/Train Simulator never killed off MSTS. When Rail Simulator first came out there was a lack of will to move from MSTS (as recounted by one Mr Peddlesden on UKTS) but eventually MSTS died from its old age and TS being the better choice - although MSTS still has an active albeit small community and is still being developed via OpenRails. However TS and TSW is a different story, because TSW is not a significant upgrade in TS in very crucial areas. Longer routes won't make people jump ship - until there is free and open modding for TSW with user-created routes, scenarios (not using the pathetic scenario editor already in TSW), reskins (ditto for the livery editor) and trains, which both MSTS and TS have, Train Simulator will still have a clear advantage in these areas. There is very good reason why TSW has never outperformed TS on PC - the people who play on PC, as made clear in the Train Simulator forum on this site, like the freedom TS gives. There are few games as open as Train Simulator; with the amount and variety of content made for it impossible to calculate or even estimate. DTG chose to make TSW a fully closed system like they did for Flight Sim World. FSW died a quick death because of it. While I doubt it'll kill Train Sim World, it absolutely has prevented it from becoming a TS replacement. Many on PC play both, because each is impressive in their own right. The PIS implementation in TSW is a personal favourite of mine. It is an impossible feature in Train Simulator because of the way the game is designed, and it helps that the displays are genuinely useful in TSW and not just a pretty thing to look at. DTG have never explained why they cannot release the editor. 'Licensing' is no longer a valid excuse, because the community here has shown DTG distributions of Unreal that are approved by Epic Games. So unless DTG give specific details on particular modifications they have made which caused it to be impossible to distribute, I'll keep my tin foil hat on and say it's a DTG directive to keep third party content locked down and royalties from third-party developers high.
I would say that that community is highly focused around a few niches that either feel MSTS is better for their niche than TSC, or have had more content developed for them in MSTS than TSC.
I thought the licensing issue referred to the railroad licenses DTG has to get. UE is free and open source, and anyone can modify it to their heart's content.
Most of the complaints about TSW, are route length, most people complain about routes being too short
